Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to say on behalf of the Government that today we stand in solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Ireland is militarily neutral, but in this conflict Ireland is not neutral at all. Our support for Ukraine is unwavering and unconditional. At this moment, in a European nation not too far from here, families are leaving their homes, children are being bundled into cars and martial law has been introduced in the face of an unwarranted and unjustified attack. This is an act of aggression, it is unprecedented in the 21st century, and it gives us grim echoes of a much darker past. As President von der Leyen said this morning, President Putin is responsible for bringing war back to Europe. Ireland has much in common with Ukraine. Many people of Ukrainian origin have made their home in Ireland, and they and their families are in our thoughts.

The first wide-ranging package of EU sanctions will come into effect today. This includes an EU travel ban and asset freeze for all 351 members of the Russian Parliament, the Duma, who voted in favour of this violation of international law. There will be an asset freeze and travel ban on senior decision-makers, business figures, military officers and persons involved in leading a disinformation war against Ukraine. An asset freeze will also apply to three private banks and an entity responsible for disinformation. The package also targets the ability of the Russian state and government to access the EU's capital and financial markets and services, and this limits Russia's ability to finance further aggressive policies and actions. The new measures will also target economic relations between the European Union and the two breakaway regions, Donetsk and Luhansk. The European Council will meet later today to finalise further sanctions against Russia and to discuss how to protect the rules-based international order, how to hold Russia to account for its actions and how the EU can provide further support to Ukraine. I want to be very clear that the Government will fully support any additional sanctions against Russia, including those of a financial nature relating to banking and financial services, aviation and any other matters.

As a committed European, in some ways I find it very hard to absorb what has been happening in Ukraine today. The tide of history towards peace, multilateralism, democracy and international co-operation and European integration through the EU has brought more than 70 years of peace to countries within its borders. In a globalised world, aggression and belligerent behaviour always lose in the long run, in my view. Ukraine is a sovereign nation, it has the right to determine its own future and it has been independent for 30 years. It can trace its history back more than 1,000 years. We believe it has as much of a right to exist as any of the other successor nations of the Soviet Union, including Russia itself.

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