FURTHER SANCTIONS AGAINST Russia are a “major foreign policy priority” for the Irish presidency of the EU, foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee has said.

McEntee is in Brussels to attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the first meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council under Ireland’s EU presidency.

Ministers will discuss a range of issues including the situations in Ukraine and the Middle East.

They will also have an exchange with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) during the third EU-GCC High-Level Forum on Regional Security and Cooperation.

McEntee will also co-host an event with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, which will focus on Ukrainian detainees in the occupied territories in Ukraine.

She will also attend a meeting of the Palestine Donor Group.

“Ensuring continued support for Ukraine will be central to our work for the next six months,” McEntee said.

“It is essential that we maintain our support for Ukraine and keep pressure on Russia,” she added.

McEntee also said that it was clear “that our sanctions are having an impact”.

“I have been clear in saying that further sanctions against Russia are a major foreign policy priority for the Irish presidency.”

The minister also said that a “significant focus” of the meetings in Brussels would be the conflict between the US and Iran, and that the “catastrophic situation” in Gaza and the West Bank” would be discussed.

“With my counterparts on the council, I will seek to build consensus around a position that addresses the consistent violations of human rights and international law by the current Israeli government, which undermine the viability of the two-state solution,” McEntee said.

“This will include trying to reach an agreement at the EU level to address trade with illegal settlements.”