According to the Polish foreign ministry, the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) meeting in the Belgian capital was set to discuss "support for Kyiv in countering Russia’s attacks and the future reconstruction of Ukraine."
EU foreign ministers were also expected to discuss "the situation in the Middle East" and "the Red Sea, where the Houthis continue to assault commercial vessels," according to the foreign ministry in Warsaw.
"Moreover, the EU’s top diplomats will talk about Belarus and the unprecedented increase in repressions targeting the civil society in the country as well as the Minsk regime’s ongoing activity to destabilise the security situation in the region," the Polish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Ahead of the meeting, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced that Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, would attend the gathering.
EU foreign ministers were expected to "send a strong message of support to freedom fighters in Russia and honour the memory of Alexi Navalny," according to Borrell.
Borrell told the media on Monday that EU member states were likely to propose new sanctions on Russia in response to Navalny's death, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, starting the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.
Monday is day 726 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, gov.pl