EU leaders flip to international coverage after agreeing to disagree on gasoline cap By Reuters

By Philip Blenkinsop and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union leaders will talk about chopping their financial dependency on China, aiding Kyiv and punishing Iran for its involvement within the warfare that Russia is waging on Ukraine after they meet for a second day of talks in Brussels on Friday.

The day prior to this, the 27 EU leaders locked horns over a joint response to the acute power crunch that has engulfed the bloc since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Their summit talks began on Thursday afternoon and bumped into wee hours on Friday as Germany caught to its refusal to cap gasoline costs and the 27 might solely conform to disagree, declaring they are going to carry on inspecting choices to place a ceiling on prices.

As they flip to international coverage from 0800 GMT on Friday, they are going to have a “strategic dialogue” on their ties with China after the bloc’s govt mentioned earlier this week the EU ought to see Beijing extra as a competitor.

That comes forward of the EU’s first full summit with the ASEAN group of Southeast Asian nations deliberate for Dec. 14, which Europe is hoping will bolster commerce and geopolitical relations with a area within the shadow of China.

UKRAINE, IRAN

Europe’s reliance on Russia was laid naked when Moscow reduce gasoline deliveries following its invasion of Ukraine, leaving the EU grappling not solely with a political, safety and humanitarian disaster throughout its border, but additionally an power one.

On Thursday, the EU imposed swift however restricted sanctions on Iran for supplying drones for Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that this century has sought to combine with the West in opposition to vehement opposition from the Kremlin.

Some EU nations need wider sanctions in opposition to Iran, and the summit may even condemn Tehran’s use of power in opposition to protests sparked by the loss of life in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl detained for “inappropriate apparel”.

Poland and the three Baltic states have additionally proposed extra sanctions in opposition to Russia, together with a ban on importing diamonds, however that’s unlikely to be agreed on Friday as any such resolution would require unanimity among the many 27 that’s missing.