OREANDA-NEWS The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrel, spoke about the work on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia. Before the meeting of the EU foreign ministers, he said that there are "different opinions" among the member states of the union about the content of the sanctions package.

"I hope that it will be agreed today, perhaps tomorrow, but I'm not saying that it will be easy, because there are different opinions among the member countries," Mr. Borrel said.

According to him, the upcoming meeting will be very long and difficult. "We have sanctions against Russia on the agenda, the ninth package, we still have not reached an agreement. We still have to agree on a number of issues," the head of EU diplomacy explained.

In addition to sanctions against Russia, European Union foreign ministers will discuss sanctions against Iran at a meeting on December 12, as well as the allocation of an additional €2 billion ($2.11 billion) for arms supplies to Ukraine. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that almost 200 individuals and legal entities would be included in the ninth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation. The new restrictions will affect three more Russian banks and several Russian TV channels. New export control measures will be taken and access to all types of drones will be restricted.