EU should 'hold a mirror to itself' on Russia sanctions before criticizing others — Latvian minister on Trump diesel deal

Editor's note: This article was updated to include comments from Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot.

LUXEMBOURG — The EU should first consider its own track record on applying sanctions before criticizing others, Latvia's Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said on Oct. 12 when asked to comment on a U.S. deal to buy Russian diesel.

"Let's look at ourselves. The EU first took out two big Russian oligarchs, the biggest ever supporters of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's regime, from the sanctions," Braze said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

Braze was referring to the Sept. 21 decision to delist Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from EU sanctions, which was pushed for by Slovakia, Luxembourg, and France.

"Before we criticize the others, obviously we should hold a mirror to the EU itself," Braze said.

The Latvian minister and representatives of other 26 EU countries are expected to vote on two new sanctions packages, one against people who ran in Russia's September election on illegally occupied Ukrainian territory, and another 1,600 listings against Moscow's military-industrial complex — the largest ever single list of new additions.

"Obviously, our position has not changed. Pressure on Russia, sanctions, support to Ukraine. Russia's isolation is the way to peace. We all want peace," Braze said.

Her Lithuanian counterpart, Kestutis Budrys, likewise reiterated his criticism of the EU's previous decision to delist the two oligarchs.

"When we projected our weakness by delisting two prominent oligarchs from our sanctions, we saw how Russia reacted to it. They escalated, both in Ukraine and now in Europe, in our countries," Budrys said.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot also said Belgium regrets the withdrawal of the two names.

"Belgium thinks that, on the contrary, we must intensify them to continue to have an impact," Prevot said.

Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are the only countries known by the Kyiv Independent to have abstained from the vote to delist the two oligarchs, after being among the strongest opponents to the move.

On U.S. President Donald Trump's diesel deal more widely, Estonia's Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna, played down the impact.

"I don't think that in real life this diesel deal is actually going to change anything... it is much more connected to the domestic situation in the U.S., with the midterms coming," Tsahkna said.

"We have had this kind of turbulence from President Trump's side to Ukraine before. We need to focus on what we can do, and it is obvious that Europe must do more to support Ukraine," Tsahkna said, echoing his Latvian colleague's position.

Germany's European Affairs Minister Gunther Krichbaum described the Trump deal with Russia as "not our way."

"I would wish that everyone contributes to putting further pressure on Russia... every euro, every dollar that flows from energy purchases here into Putin's cash register helps Russia produce and use new weapons against Ukraine," Krichbaum warned.

And the EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas called on the U.S. to "put sanctions in place so that we can actually finish this war."

Then, "all these effects of attacks on refineries would not be there, would not be necessary if the war is over," Kallas added.