Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will both travel to Brussels on Monday to attend the European Union’s foreign affairs council, with European foreign ministers set to discuss the planned expansion of sanctions on Russia in light of its ongoing war in Ukraine.

The meeting will be chaired by the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who announced on Sunday afternoon that members of the EU’s Naval Force Mediterranean Operation Irini had boarded what she described as a “suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker” which was sailing in the western Mediterranean on Friday.

She said the ship, the MV Midag, had been “sailing under a false flag”, and that on Monday, EU foreign ministers are “set to approve new Russia sanctions listings, including on banks, buyers, and companies supporting the shadow fleet”.

Meanwhile, the European Commission said that ministers “will discuss Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine with a focus on how to strengthen Ukraine for the upcoming winter and how to address Russia’s continued hybrid campaign targeting the EU and its member states”.

The meeting comes after Kallas was passed over by EU heads of government at an informal European Council summit in Dublin on Friday, as they decided who will represent Europe at talks aimed at bringing to an end almost five years of war in Ukraine.

She had been bullish ahead of Friday’s summit, saying that “all the member states actually agreed that I am the one who is representing Europe in foreign and security policy, so … that was in 2024, that it was clear that .. this is going to be the case”.

“I know that the Russians don’t want me, but, you know, do we have a say who is representing Russia?” she asked.

European leaders passed over Kallas to represent continent in Ukraine talks

However, in the end, the leaders decided that the “E5”, Europe’s five major military powers – France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom – plus the European Council and the European Commission, would represent the continent.

Away from the matter of Ukraine, the commission also said Monday’s meeting will see European foreign ministers “take stock of the situation in the Middle East, with a focus on Syria and the EU’s support to the country’s political transition and socio-economic recovery”.

In addition, it said that those present in Brussels will “touch on Israel and Palestine”.

Fidan will enter the room after those two discussions have been held, taking part in a meeting on “cross-regional security and connectivity”.

His presence in Brussels will come just four days before the commission’s Cyprus problem envoy Raffaele Fitto will travel to Turkey to meet him.

Fitto to meet Fidan in Turkey on Friday

Fitto had, in his most recent intervention on the Cyprus problem that he was “encouraged” by the results of Monday’s meeting of President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman.

“This is a good step forward in the discussions for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue. The European Union remains fully committed to the reunification of Cyprus in accordance with the relevant UN security council resolutions and in line with EU principles, values and legislation,” he said on Tuesday.

Erhurman and Christodoulides had agreed to open two new crossing points and meet United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the coming weeks for further discussions, with it expected that that meeting may take place towards the end of the month, after Guterres returns from other engagements in the Philippines and after Fitto’s trip to Turkey.