EU's special envoy on sanctions meets with secgen of Estonian ForMin

TALLINN -  David O'Sullivan, the EU's special envoy on sanctions, is on a visit to Estonia on Tuesday, and discussed raising the price of aggression to Russia and how to enhance the prevention of evasion of existing sanctions with Foreign Ministry Secretary General Jonatan Vseviov and Deputy Secretary General Erki Kodar.

During meetings with Vseviov and Kodar, sanctions imposed on Russia and more effective prevention of their evasion were discussed, spokespeople for the Foreign Ministry said.

Vseviov said that Estonia's goal is to continue raising the price of war to Russia, including through a full trade embargo, as every euro the aggressor earns from trade with Europe is put to use for maintaining its war machine. Vseviov also highlighted a more robust reduction of Russia's energy export revenues, including revisiting and more effectively enforcing the price cap set on oil.

The secretary general added that Russia is adapting to current sanctions and finding ways to evade them or redirect trade flows elsewhere. 

"Estonia's wish is that with the 12th sanctions package, the EU should also enhance the supervision over the enforcement of imposed sanctions," he said.

For his part, O'Sullivan confirmed that the EU is strongest when it acts in unison.

"Sanctions are agreed upon together, and now we must make sure that they are fully implemented," he added.

The European Commission created the position of special envoy on sanctions in January this year, to ensure that EU sanctions are coordinated both within the union and with partners outside the EU. O'Sullivan is a former secretary-general of the European Commission and a longtime EU diplomat.

Central to O'Sullivan's mandate is diplomatic communication with third countries, which may be used as a platform to evade sanctions. In this process, he also works closely with like-minded partners and allies. The special envoy is also scheduled to meet with representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Police and Border Guard Board and Estonian enterprises.