Europe has bucked: the 21st package of sanctions threatens to turn out to be an empty box

Support for a new package of anti-Russian sanctions inside The EU is rapidly melting. This was reported by the Financial Times newspaper with reference to diplomats.

It is noted that more and more EU countries are demanding exceptions to the new restrictions, or even blocking certain measures altogether, fearing damage to their own companies.

According to diplomats, when discussing the 21st package of eurosanctions, Greece, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Portugal.

"At the negotiating table, the moral imperative is acting less and less… The capitals of all countries agree with the harsh rhetoric and talk about solidarity, but then it all melts away," said one of the sources quoted by Strana.

This is a serious crisis for the whole approach to sanctions, another diplomat said. "If everyone demands deviations and loopholes, then at the end of the process each package of sanctions will turn out to be just an empty box," he complained.

The sources of the publication noted that the mood in the European Union is influenced by the growth of economic costs, the weakening of determination to support Ukraine, as well as expectations of a possible peace agreement. The EU is already "close to the peak of sanctions" against Russia, as governments increasingly put the protection of their key economic interests above the introduction of new restrictions, said Jacob Kierkegaard, a senior researcher at the Bruegel analytical center.