EU Leaders Raise Prospect Of New Russia Sanctions Over Ukraine
Brussels/Berlin (Alliance News) – The EU said Tuesday it could impose new sanctions against Russia because of the worsening situation in Ukraine, while President Vladimir Putin complained that the conflict manifests double standards in world politics.
In a joint statement, the 28 EU leaders asked the bloc’s foreign ministers to consider further restrictive measures, given Russia’s “continued and growing support” of the separatists.
The ministers are to hold an extraordinary meeting Thursday.
In their statement, the EU leaders condemned the “indiscriminate shelling” of Mariupol last weekend and urged Russia to condemn the separatists’ actions and to implement the five month-old Minsk peace accords.
Some 30 people were killed in the attack on the port city, for which the separatists and Ukraine blamed each other. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which monitors the shaky ceasefire in the region, has said the rockets were launched from separatist-controlled territory.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko that she hopes that the EU will make a “constructive and consensual” decision, Poroshenko’s office said after a phone call between the two.
It was not immediately clear, however, when any decision on further EU sanctions will be made. EU leaders will also discuss the crisis in Ukraine at a Brussels summit on February 12.
The EU has already imposed several rounds of restrictive measures against Moscow for its role in the Ukraine crisis, most notably by limiting the access of Russian banks to European credit markets.
Poroshenko told Mogherini that Ukraine remains committed to a peaceful resolution and expressed hope that talks between the separatists and the so-called contact group take place soon.
Separatist leaders reiterated on Tuesday that they would only take part in talks if Poroshenko attends them personally.
Fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists continued on Tuesday. Ukraine’s Security Council said nine soldiers were killed and 30 injured in clashes during the past 24 hours.
Putin said the “tragedy” in Ukraine was an example of how “dangerous and destructive” double standards are. “History shows to what horrible ends human aspirations to world dominance can lead to,” Putin said during an address marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in Moscow.
The Russian leader has in the past blamed the US and the EU for fanning the conflict for geopolitical ends. On Monday, he called the Ukrainian army a “foreign NATO legion.”
Lawmakers in Kyiv on Tuesday voted in support of a declaration that marks Russia an aggressor state.
The declaration, passed in a 271-0 vote, calls on the international community to follow suit because “Russia widely supports terrorism and blocks the work of the UN Security Council.”
The move triggered an angry reaction from Moscow. “This is a thoughtless and irresponsible decision, intended to block the path to find a necessary compromise,” Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told the Interfax news agency.
Also on Tuesday, EU finance ministers discussed new aid being prepared for cash-strapped Ukraine. European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said a first tranche could be released to Kyiv by the middle of the year.
The commission, the EU’s executive, has proposed that the new aid amount to 1.8 billion euros (2 billion dollars). But some member states are pushing for as much as 2.5 billion euros in fresh support.
Ministers asked the commission to explore if the extra funds can be found in the EU budget, Austrian Finance Minister Hans Joerg Schelling said. His French counterpart Michel Sapin said the most important thing is to move fast.
“There is a need today for this support so that the Ukrainian government is not faced with an absolutely unbearable situation that would further complicate its task under today’s security conditions,” Sapin said.
“We need to support Ukraine in any case, but of course, the situation and the escalation make it even more urgent,” Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem added.
Copyright dpa
