European Union leaders will on Thursday discuss weaning the bloc off Russian energy in the face of Moscow's war in Ukraine, but internal divisions and fear of provoking President Vladimir Putin mean they will not invite Kyiv to join their club.
Gathering in France's opulent Versailles palace, the 27 national EU leaders will also look at shoring up their defences and economies. But they are set to disappoint Ukraine's dramatic appeal for quick membership as it battles Russian invasion.
"We are not taking part but it is on our doorstep," de Croo told the Le Soir daily, referring to Russia's assault on Ukraine. "September 11 was a decisive moment in the United States. This war in Ukraine is Europe's 9/11." While the United States has already cut Russian oil imports, the case for the EU is more complicated, expensive and politically sensitive as it fears further big jumps in energy and food prices.
Both sanctions and enlargement - a process that normally takes years to satisfy strict criteria ranging from economic stability to rooting out corruption to respecting liberal human rights - require unanimity in the EU.
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