Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will continue to be vocal at an EU level and also on the UN Security Council, where our view has been made very clear. In many ways, that view is directly supported by the UN Secretary General, who has been very clear that the UN sees what is happening as a complete breach of international law and the UN Charter. Russia has to bear the responsibility for that. There is no justification for this in the context of Russia’s security concerns and so on. The EU has made it very clear that it is, of course, willing to enter into dialogue with Russia on security matters more generally across Europe. That offer is still there. However, Russia effectively claiming portions of Ukraine, and publicly stating that it no longer recognises Ukraine’s sovereignty, must trigger a response by the international community and that is what is happening now.

I thank Senator Dolan for raising this issue in the Seanad. As the Senator appreciates, it is essential that at this crucial time for European security, the EU stands staunch and unwavering in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. This means macro-financial assistance, as I outlined. It also means sanctions on Russia, should they be necessary, and these will increase, if necessary.

It is true that there may be some economic cost arising from these sanctions. Impacts could arise, in particular, from possible Russian counter-sanctions and the likely fall in the value of the rouble, making Irish exports more expensive, and from economic impacts across European trading partners as well. The Government is preparing appropriate contingency plans to mitigate potential impacts to the Irish economy. We have had a number of meetings on that across Departments, as sanctions will not be cost-free for Ireland and other EU member states. However, we are left with little choice, given Russia’s behaviour and stated intentions. The cost of ignoring such behaviour would, in the end, be far greater for everybody.

I hope that in the coming days we will find mechanisms that can de-escalate some of the language of the past number of days and some of the actions behind that. However, there is an increasing sense of pessimism in terms of where this is moving now. As I said, hopefully that pessimism can be reversed. For now, the focus has to be on appropriate sanctions, but with preparedness to go much further if we need to, to act as a further deterrent, as well as an intensive approach towards diplomatic intervention.