Brussels: The EU Foreign Affairs Council is set to meet to discuss EU bilateral relations with Russia and the United States, the situation in Afghanistan, the Sahel region and Lebanon and the progress on the Iranian nuclear deal.
According to Sputnik, “the meeting is expected to start at 09:00 a.m. local time (07:00 a.m. GMT) and end at noon.”
On Friday, an EU source told the press that the EU foreign ministers will not consider new sanctions against Russia at Monday’s meeting. Apart from Russia, the EU top diplomats will also discuss the situation in Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of foreign troops, the situation in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, the Western Balkans, as well as the negotiations on the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, as reported by Sputnik.
Additionally, the ministers will talk about the upcoming G20 Global Health Summit, which is scheduled to take place in Rome on May 21, reported by Sputnik.
The US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry is expected to join the meeting via a video link to exchange views on the climate change issues.
At the same time, the final agenda of the event does not include the previously planned discussion of the situation in Belarus. It was announced earlier in the week that the EU is currently working on the fourth package of sanctions against Belarus, which will most likely be agreed upon at the next meeting of the EU foreign ministers in June.