THIS WEEK offers a weekly snapshot of the key developments in Brussels and across Europe over the next seven days, published every Monday morning.
EU foreign ministers will aim to sign off the 20th package of Russia sanctions in Brussels on Monday (23 February), in time for the four-year anniversary of the full invasion of Ukraine one day later.
These propose visa bans on Russian cultural figures, such as its FIDE chess federation president and the Hermitage museum director, a crackdown on maritime services for Russian oil tankers, dual-tech export curbs on Kyrgyzstan, and a halt to Russian crypto trading in Europe.
But talks could go to the wire, with last-minute EU ambassadors’ meetings foreseen on Sunday, amid concerns over the maritime ban by Cyprus, Greece, and Spain, as well as calls by the Moscow-friendly Hungary and Slovakia to water down the measures.