President of the European Council Charles Michel stated today that the leaders of the EU will gather at a summit in Brussels to discuss the possibilities of closing the loopholes in the sanctions’ regime against Russia, including through negotiations with third countries.

“We will continue imposing sanctions against Russia. But we must discuss how to close all loopholes. We must negotiate with third countries to ensure that they are not involved in circumvention of restrictions,” TASS quoted Michel as saying.

“We know that loopholes are being used. We must intensify our efforts to reduce their number. Some third countries provide Russia, directly or indirectly, ways to circumvent sanctions,” he said.