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Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu welcomed the inclusion of the situation generated by Russia's aggressive actions in the vicinity of Ukraine and the Black Sea region on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) and the adoption of the latter's conclusions, in Brussels, informs a press release of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) sent on Monday evening.
At the same time, the Romanian official proposed examining the possibility of holding a Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Kiev, as an expression of EU solidarity with Ukraine, and reiterated the importance of supporting the strengthening of Ukraine's resilience as well as that of other Eastern partners and increasing EU involvement in finding political solutions to protracted conflicts in the Black Sea region.
"In this context, he recalled Romania's main positions on this issue, with an emphasis on maintaining the EU's strong support for the principles underlying the current European security architecture, as well as current conflict resolution formats, and rejecting the use of the concept of 'spheres of influence', the need for a concrete de-escalation on the ground of the security situation and continuing to prepare firm and credible measures to discourage Russia. Thus, he reiterated the need for the EU to speed up the preparation of restrictive measures (sanctions), sectoral and individual, against Russia, both in order to deter and to prepare an appropriate, proportionate response in the event of further escalation of tensions. He stressed the need to continue close coordination with the United States on the preparation of sanctions and, more broadly, on the file, as well as with the other like-minded partners," the cited source states.
"Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu (...) highlighted the importance of close EU-US consultation on preparing a package of firm and credible measures to sanction Russia. Minister Bogdan Aurescu also reiterated Romania's thanks for the announcement of US President Joseph R. Biden on the increase of the US military presence on the Eastern Flank, including in Romania, in case of a deterioration of the security situation, showing that the US commitment is of special importance for the Euro-Atlantic security as a whole, of which the Black Sea region is part. He emphasized that the process of strengthening NATO's defence posture on the Eastern Flank was needed as soon as possible, having in itself a significant deterrent effect. He also referred to the forthcoming Russia-US ministerial meeting as a follow-up to last Friday's Geneva meeting and welcomed the continuation of the dialogue, stressing the importance of continuing the dialogue under the NATO-Russia Council format, with a responsible, positive response on the Russian side needed. (...) At the same time, in this context, he reiterated Romania's thanks for France's willingness to participate militarily in NATO's forward presence in Romania," the cited source also states.
