Ireland to back ‘whatever’ sanctions European Commission proposes for Russia, McEntee says

Ireland will support whatever the European Commission proposes when it comes to the next sanction package against Russia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has said.Helen McEntee also said she was not aware of any lobbying by the Government to keep alumina out of the package and that the only thing it had done was to send its own report on Aughinish Alumina to the commission. The Co Limerick plant is owned by Russian metals giant Rusal and ships vast quantities of alumina to smelters in Russia, where the raw material is turned into aluminium, a key ingredient in the industrial supply chain.The plant, which employs hundreds in the Foynes area, previously warned it could be forced to shut if its exports to Russia were barred by EU sanctions.READ MOREA draft of the commission’s 22nd package of sanctions does not propose measures prohibiting alumina exports, according to one senior source briefed on the details. However, sources in Brussels noted that changes were often made following confidential talks.Aughinish’s exports of alumina to Russia have been in the spotlight after reporting by The Irish Times tracing the shipments to smelters in Russia, where it is made into aluminium that is sold to a company known to supply the alloy to Russian arms and missile manufacturers.The Aughinish Alumina plant on the Shannon Estuary in Co Limerick. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire David O’Sullivan, the EU envoy on sanctions, said on Thursday that alumina produced by Aughinish “undoubtedly” ended up supplying, at least in part, the Russian military-industrial complex. He said any action taken against the company had to be mindful of Europe’s complex supply chains.“We just have to find the best way of doing it, which doesn’t have unhelpful collateral consequences,” he told an Institute of International and European Affairs event in Dublin.McEntee spoke to reporters in advance of an informal meeting of trade ministers being held on Friday as part of Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the European Union.She was asked whether Ireland could stand over a situation that saw alumina from the plant having a part in supplying Russian war efforts. She said a Department of Enterprise report on Aughinish Alumina had been given to the commission.“We engaged directly with our colleagues in Ukraine on that, and we’ve been very clear that whatever the commission proposes in terms of the next package of sanctions, we will support that.”The department’s report could not find proof that alumina from Aughinish was ultimately being used by Russian arms and missile manufacturers. However, officials qualified their conclusions by admitting their inquiry had “no means” to trace the supply chain once the product entered Russia and that they had limited access to reliable trade data.McEntee said the next sanctions package was being worked on and that sanctions “have had an impact on Russia’s ability to wage this war and so we’ll work with the commission, whatever is proposed”.She added: “We’ve been very clear ... we do not want to be contributing to this war. We do not want a situation where any product could be contributing to this war coming from Ireland.”She said Ireland had not rejected or pushed back against any sanctions package that had been proposed.The Estonian minister of economy and industry, Liina Vahtras, was on Friday asked about her country’s push for sanctions restricting alumina exports to Russia. It was put to her that this did not appear to have support from many EU members. Vahtras said: “We are strong on the message and we remain very strong ... that the sanctions must be there to end the conflict in Ukraine.”After Russia, France is Aughinish Alumina’s next biggest market. It supplies significant quantities of material to an aluminium smelter in Dunkirk.On his country’s stance on the inclusion of alumina in sanctions against Russia, French trade minister Nicolas Forissier said: “France doesn’t take any position on this, in this field alone, so we will discuss it. I can’t give you an answer on this question today.”He added: “We have always been very clear on the necessity of having sanctions towards Russia.”The trade ministers are due to discuss EU trade with China and the US at Dublin Castle, as well as how trade with other countries can be strengthened as the EU seeks to diversify its markets.