"Russia bears full responsibility for this act of aggression and all the destruction and loss of life it will cause."
Russia is set to face "devastating" sanctions following a special meeting of the European Council on Thursday (24 February).
The council
published its conclusions following talks in Government buildings.
https://twitter.com/CharlesMichel/status/1496938400628330510?s=20&t=HbkqxwoBmGtpFT1XICVAnQ
"The European Council condemns in the strongest possible terms the Russian Federation’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine," the Council wrote.
"By its illegal military actions, Russia is grossly violating international law and the principles of the UN Charter and undermining European and global security and stability.
"The European Council underlines that this includes the right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny.
"Russia bears full responsibility for this act of aggression and all the destruction and loss of life it will cause.
"It will be held accountable for its actions."
"The European Council today agrees on further restrictive measures that will impose massive and severe consequences on Russia for its action, in close coordination with our partners and allies.
"These sanctions cover the financial sector, the energy and transport sectors, dual-use goods as well as export control and export financing, visa policy, additional listings of Russian individuals and new listing criteria."
The Council also said it was prepared to introduce further individual and economic sanctions on both Russia and Belarus.
https://twitter.com/MichealMartinTD/status/1496927473115832324?s=20&t=HbkqxwoBmGtpFT1XICVAnQ
Taoiseach Micheál Martin attended the meeting in Brussels, stating that he supported the "strongest possible sanctions" against Russia in response to the conflict in Ukraine.
Martin described the invasion as an "outrageous and immoral attack on the territorial integrity Ukraine and its people".
"We will support the imposition of comprehensive and severe sanctions on Russia, sanctions that reflect the grave nature of the assault on the Ukrainian people.
Martin said that Ireland would support the strongest possible sanctions in particular in the financial sector, along with energy and resources, along with any other sectors that would weaken Russia's industrial base and its capacity to wage war.
The Taoiseach confirmed that €10 million would be made available for humanitarian purposes, and will "do anything else we can" to support Ukrainian people in need.
When asked if he supported the removal of Russia from The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), Martin re-emphasised his support for the strongest possible measures against Russia.
"We believe in peaceful resolutions of disputes. We think of the Ukrainian people in the line of fire, we think of the young people who will die because of this Russian aggression unnecessarily and in no way is this justifiable by any yardstick."
US President Joe Biden said that the G7 have also agreed on "devastating" sanctions and other economic measures against Russia.
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1496902725077979140
"Today, I am authorizing additional strong sanctions and new limitations on what can be exported to Russia," Biden tweeted.
"This will impose severe costs on the Russian economy — both immediately and over time.
"With today’s actions, we have now sanctioned Russian banks that hold around $1 trillion in assets.
"We cut off Russia’s largest bank — and we are also fully blocking four more major banks.
"That means every asset they have in America will be frozen," he added, vowing to "do more" if required.
Secretary-General for the United Nations António Guterres warned that the conflict could lead to the "
worst war since beginning of the century".
