Although the Minsk agreement on a ceasefire and the withdrawal of military forces is fragile, it provides the opportunity for the implementation of the ceasefire, and the Heads of State and Government confirmed the EU's readiness to help with the implementation of this agreement.
“There are no grounds for great satisfaction with the ceasefire conditions reached, but I hope that this agreement will be implemented and the bloodshed in Ukraine will stop,” Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma commented today to journalists.
The European Council confirmed that there are no grounds for making changes to decisions already adopted on imposing sanctions against Russian officials and other persons who endanger the stability of Ukraine. The members of the European Council also acknowledged that preparatory work on additional restrictive measures against Russia and its officials is under way, and the Heads of State and Government will return to this issue no later than in March.
During the meeting, they also discussed the work of the EU Member States and the European Commission on the implementation of counter-terrorism measures. Decisions regarding these mechanisms were taken at the meeting of the Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs on 29 January in Riga. The joint statement by the Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs was thus given support at the highest political level.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Heads of State and Government launched a discussion on deepening the European Economic and Monetary Union, and the President of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, reported on progress in the negotiations on the Greek programme. He informed the Heads of State and Government that technical work is under way and that further discussions will be held among the Ministers for Finance on 16 February.
At the meeting, European Council President Donald Tusk expressed his high appreciation of the work of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.