Donald Tusk blasts EU nations over sanctions after Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine

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As leaders of Nato were preparing for an emergency summit Friday afternoon, Mr Tusk hit out at Germany, Hungary and Italy for “blocking tough decisions”.

“In this war everything is real: Putin’s madness and cruelty, Ukrainian victims, bombs falling on Kyiv,” Mr Tusk tweeted Friday morning. “Only your sanctions are pretended. Those EU governments, which blocked tough decisions (Germany, Hungary, Italy) have disgraced themselves. ”

Mr Tusk’s extraordinary comments suggest sharp divisions between members of the Western alliance in responding to the invasion of Ukraine.

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Although Britain, the US and the EU have unveiled what they say are an unprecedented package of sanctions against Russia, Ukraine has urged the West to go much further.

Much of the attention is now focused on whether Russia should be barred from the so-called Swift financial system which enables cross-border payments.

While Britain and the US have pushed to kick Russia out of Swift, some countries, including Germany which is reliant on Russian energy supplies, are worried that it could have serious consequences for their economies.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Friday that Britain would like to go further. “We’d like to do the Swift system … but you know, like so many things, these are international organizations and if not every country wants them to be thrown out of the Swift system, it becomes difficult,” he said.

During the early hours, the EU agreed a further package of sanctions on Russia with European foreign ministers set to meet Friday afternoon to thrash out details.

Having announced a first wave of sanctions earlier this week, the UK also on Thursday unveiled more aimed at disrupting the Russian economy including a freeze on the assets of VTB, Russia’s second-largest bank, and trade restrictions on major Russian defense firms. Britain also targeted five of Mr Putin’s inner circle, including his ex son-in-law Kirill Shamalov.

Russia invades Ukraine – In pictures

A Ukrainian serviceman reacts while holding a weapon in Kharkiv, Ukraine

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Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine

AP

Servicemen of the Ukrainian National Guard take positions in central Kyiv, Ukraine

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People rest in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine

AP

Firefighters inspect the damage at a building following a rocket attack on the city of Kyiv, Ukraine

AP

A woman with two children and carrying bags walk on a street to leave Ukraine after crossing the Slovak-Ukrainian border in Ubla, eastern Slovakia, close to the Ukrainian city of Welykyj Beresnyj

AFP via Getty Images

A destroyed BMP Armored Personnel Carrier

Land forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

A man clears debris at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit,

AFP via Getty Images

A view shows destroyed Russian Army multiple rocket launchers with the letter “Z” painted on their sides in Kharkiv, Ukraine

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A woman walks in front of Russian armored vehicles parked at a railway station in the southern Russian Rostov region

AFP via Getty Images

A multi-story building burning in southeast Kyiv. This is in the opposite side of the Dnieper river.

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A pictures emerges apparently of attack in Kyiv amid claims a warplane has been downed

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Ukrainian soldiers take positions in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine

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Rescuers work at the crash site of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Antonov aircraft, which, according to the State Emergency Service, was shot down in Kyiv region, Ukraine

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Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Moscow

AFP via Getty Images

A man stands in front of a Russian Ka-52 helicopter gunship is seen in the field after a forced landing outside Kyiv, Ukraine,

AP

People stand with placards and Ukrainian and Union flags at a demonstration in central London

AFP via Getty Images

A woman clears debris at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit,

AFP via Getty Images

People lie in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter in Kyiv

AP

President Joe Biden listens to questions from reporters while speaking about the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the East Room of the White House,

AP

Ukrainian servicemen are seen next to a destroyed armored vehicle, which they said belongs to the Russian army, outside Kharkiv, Ukraine

REUTERS

A US Air Force F-35 Lightning II aircraft assigned to the 34th Fighter Squadron receives fuel from a KC-10 Extender aircraft over Poland

via REUTERS

Firefighters work at a damaged residential building at Koshytsa Street, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where a military shell allegedly hit,

AFP via Getty Images

A man sits outside his destroyed building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv

AFP via Getty Images

A wounded woman is seen as airstrike damages an apartment complex outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine

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Firefighters work on a fire on a building after bombings on the eastern Ukraine town of Chuguiv

AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian military vehicles move past Independence square in central Kyiv

AFP via Getty Images

Chuhuiv military airfield in Kharkiv outskirts

Social media / east2west news

Damaged radar arrays and other equipment is seen at Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine

AP

Cars drive across a field to leave Ukraine

REUTERS

Tanks move into the city, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine in Mariupol

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Russian President Vladimir Putin addressees the nation in Moscow, Russia

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Inhabitants of Kyiv leave the city following pre-offensive missile strikes of the Russian armed forces and Belarus

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Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv

AFP via Getty Images

People are seen outside the cordoned off area around the remains of a shell in a street in Kyiv

AFP via Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy chairs an urgent meeting with the leadership of the government, representatives of the defense sector and the economic bloc, in Kyiv, Ukraine

via REUTERS

People take shelter in a subway station, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine

REUTERS

Black smoke rises from a military airport in Chuguyev near Kharkiv

AFP via Getty Images

Police officers inspect the remains of a missile that fell in the street in Kyiv

REUTERS

Ukrainians demonstrate outside the Russian Embassy against the recent invasion in London

Getty Images

Tanks move into the city, after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine

REUTERS

People react standing behind the cordoned off area around the remains of a shell in Kyiv

AFP via Getty Images

A Ukrainian serviceman stands at his position at the line of separation between Ukraine-held territory and rebel-held territory near Svitlodarsk, eastern Ukraine

AP

A demonstrator holds a placard saying ‘Ukraine will never surrender’ as he attends a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London

AP

Despite the calls to throw Russia out of the Swift system, the EU’s ambassador to the UK, Joao Vale de Almeida, defended the moves announced so far.

He told the BBC: “The measures we are taking today will have a huge impact on Russia, it impacts 70 per cent of the banking system. It touched the heart of the state-owned companies that financed the war effort. ”

Irish government minister Thomas Byrne confirmed that Ireland had also been pushing to bar Russia from Swift but insisted there was EU unity over sanctions.

He told Irish broadcaster RTE: “The sanctions that have been put in place are extremely broad.

“Having said that, we pushed and will continue to push for the broadest possible sanctions. So yes, the Irish Government has no difficulty whatsoever with the Swift system being sanctioned, and that’s something that we would support. ”

Announcing another wave of US sanctions last night US President Joe Biden pointedly played down the need to block Russia from Swift, saying that while it’s “always” still an option, “right now that’s not the position that the rest of Europe wishes to take” .

“The sanctions we’ve imposed exceed Swift,” Mr Biden said. “Let’s have a conversation in another month or so to see if they’re working.”

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