UPDATE 1-EU set for long war in Ukraine, will work on more Russia sanctions -EU presidency

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STOCKHOLM, Jan 11 (Reuters) – The European Union is prepared for a long war in Ukraine and will support Kyiv against Russia’s aggression as long as it takes, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, whose country holds the EU’s presidency, said on Wednesday.

“Despite Russia’s continued attempts to divide us, unity within the EU and across the Atlantic has been strong. The EU is prepared for a long war and will continue to stand by Ukraine’s side with political, economic, military and humanitarian support for as long as it takes,” Billstrom told a news conference.

He said the EU would continue working on more sanctions against Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine after nine packages of measures passed by the 27-nation bloc since the start of the invasion in February 2022.

“Sanctions are the EU’s best tool to help Ukraine win this war, which is the ultimate goal of what we are doing,” Billstrom said.

Officials said new sanctions could include more asset freezes and travel bans on Russian individuals involved in the war and more restrictions on sales to Russia of EU goods that could be used for military purposes.

“The EU stands ready to continue to reinforce the sanctions, to ensure an effective and coherent implementation of the sanctions and also to prevent their circumvention by Russia,” Billstrom said. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Bernadette Baum)