Copyright: European Union

At the beginning of the week Mogherini met with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. This was the second official meeting between Mogherini and Stoltenberg since they both started their mandate few months ago. These meetings form part of the two organisations’ regular and ongoing contacts on topical issues in international security. The High Representative went on to meet the envoys of the Middle East Quartet (the EU, the US, the UN and Russia) in Brussels to share assessments of the political outlook for the region and prospects for reviving the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP). They explored the role that the Quartet could play in supporting the resumption of meaningful negotiations with the aim of achieving a comprehensive peace agreement based on a two-state solution to work on the relaunch of the MEPP.

Mogherini was in San Josè, Costa Rica on Tuesday and Wednesday to participate the 3rd Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). This was Mogherini's first visit to Latin America and it came ahead of the EU-CELAC Summit in Brussels in June. At the Summit she stressed the necessity to strengthen EU-Latin America relationship saying: "We see our partnership as one of equals, based on mutual respect, but we wish to have stronger relations with you in order to unlock the potential that our joint efforts can still bring - within our regions but also globally." On the sidelines of CELAC, Mogherini held a number of bilateral meetings with regional partners such as Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Cuba.

Finally last week Mogherini also convened and chaired an extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) on Ukraine to discuss the latest escalation of violence. It condemned the indiscriminate attack on Mariupol, and the escalation of fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, calling on Russia to exert its influence and induce the separatists to respect commitments under the Minsk agreements. In view of the worsening situation, the Council took decisions concerning restrictive measures. The HR/VP said: "We hope this can help putting pressure, in particular on Russia, to make positive steps and prevent negative steps that we have seen in recent days." The Council agreed to extend existing restrictive measures and called for a proposal within a week on additional targeted sanctions, for a decision at the next FAC on 9 February, asking the Commission and the EEAS to undertake preparatory work on any further appropriate action to ensuring a swift and comprehensive implementation of the Minsk agreements. The EU will actively support all diplomatic efforts conducive to creating a new political impetus and will engage further as necessary.