Tuesday, March 28 2023 16:58

ArmInfo. EU's Special Envoy on sanctions, David O'Sullivan, will visit countries involved in circumventing EU sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine.  During a briefing in Bishkek, he stressed that through sanctions it is planned to limit Russia's access to modern types of weapons and deprive it of superiority. It is also planned to limit the use of financial proceeds for the war in Ukraine.

"We have said that we will not buy oil and gas from Russia. The third goal of the sanctions is to inflict economic damage on Russia. And the package will be strengthened. At the moment there are ten packages of sanctions that have been agreed with EU partners. There are also countries that do not join them and we respect this decision," the Special Envoy recalled,"but we must remember that those countries that did not join the sanctions did not become a platform for circumventing them." O'Sullivan assured that all EU companies and countries are ready to ensure the implementation of sanctions. And his mission is to meet with countries where it is possible to circumvent sanctions.

"After analyzing the trade flows between the EU and the Russian Federation, as well as the increased flows from Kyrgyzstan, it can be pointed out. Kyrgyzstan is not the only such country. I have been to UAE, Turkey, Pakistan, I intend to visit Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia. We have some progress and ideas on how to stop this," the Special Envoy said.  "There was a growth of 300%. We want to know if your demands and appetites have increased, or whether goods are exported to Russia, which in turn will cause problems," the official continued.

He added that he did not want the exported products to be used for military purposes, and the components were found in Russian weapons.  There are about 700 such cases in total. O'Sullivan added that there is a need for a dialogue with the Kyrgyz authorities regarding the inadmissibility of exporting European goods from the Kyrgyz Republic to the Russian Federation.  "We have concerns that many goods that are transited through the Russian Federation remain there.

We want to get confirmation that this is not the case," he emphasized. "We have already banned the transit of some goods through Russia, and we would not like to expand the list. We would like to receive assurance from partners that this will not happen," the European official said, the Kyrgyz edition of Kaktus.media reports. 

At the same time, O'Sullivan noted that he understands that Kyrgyzstan and Russia have strong trade and economic ties, and no one will destroy them.  "No one wants the sanctions issue to destroy relations between Kyrgyzstan and the European Union, but this requires a dialogue to understand what measures will be taken," he concluded. 

The EU Delegation to Uzbekistan told Gazeta.uz that his arrival could take place on April 27-28. 

ArmInfo submitted a request to the office of the EU Delegation in Armenia to clarify the date of the EU's Special Envoy's visit to Armenia.