Hague Says Russian Pullback ‘Token’
ATHENS—Russia has only made a “token” withdrawal of troops from Ukraine’s eastern border, U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Friday.
Earlier this week, the top military commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization warned that with some 40,000 Russian troops massed near Ukraine’s border, Russia could take large swathes of Ukraine in three to five days.
Speaking on his way into a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Athens, Mr. Hague said there has been no “real de-escalation” of Russian pressure on Ukraine recently, saying the situation “remains very tense.”
There has been “only a token withdrawal so far” of Russian troops on Ukraine’s eastern border, Mr. Hague said.
After Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow has no intention of sending troops further into Ukraine. Moscow has denied it is deliberately massing troops near Ukraine, saying the presence of its forces there is due to military exercises.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Russia to withdraw troops from the border as a key step to de-escalate tensions.
“The description that somehow troops are moving back has not been verified by NATO, and it is really important that Russia shows that it is serious about the de-escalation by moving troops back,” she said. “But we’ll be watching with great care what’s happening there.”
Mr. Hague said it was important for European policy makers to keep up their work preparing a third phase of broader economic sanctions against Russia that go beyond the individual travel bans and asset freezes already announced. However, he said the EU shouldn’t impose the broader sanctions yet.
“This moment isn’t the moment for phase three of sanctions but they have to be ready,” he said.
That view was echoed by Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans.
“I think the measures taken are proportionate to what are needed for the time being,” he told reporters. “In the middle of a crisis you need to stick to a strategy and not change course.”
He said the bloc could impose further individual sanctions if Russia refused to “come to the negotiating table,” over its pressure on Ukraine.
Mr. Timmermans also said the EU needs to stick by its pledges to offer assistance to Ukraine, whose economy faces serious challenges.
Ukraine’s interim government is seeking a medium-term loan program with the International Monetary Fund. The EU, the U.S. and others have also offered assistance.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters Friday that “although the bloodletting on the streets of Ukraine has stopped, the country is facing…maybe years of difficulty.”
Mr. Steinmeier said he believes Russia is seeking some form of de-escalation of tensions.
However with Russian state-run gas giant OAO Gazprom raising the price of gas exports to Ukraine Thursday for the second time this week, Mr. Steinmeier was left hoping that the EU “can convince Russia that it’s in its own interests not to have an [economically] crippled nation on its doorstep.”
The EU and U.S. had originally sought to enlist Russia in a broad international support package for Kyiv. But those hopes evaporated when Moscow refused to recognize the interim authorities who took over in Kyiv after the ousting of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in late February.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Friday he hopes the EU will agree to offer other partners the 90-day visa-free travel access to most EU countries that Moldova was formally offered on Thursday. Moldovan citizens will enjoy that easier visa access from May.
Write to Laurence Norman at alkman.granitsas@wsj.com