EU Downplays Sanctions Threat, Warns Russia over Ukraine

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

EU foreign ministers on Friday downplayed the threat of new sanctions against Russia but warned they remain on the table if Moscow undermined the latest Ukraine ceasefire accord.

France and Germany brokered a second Minsk peace agreement with Russia and Ukraine last month which so far seems to be holding, though the situation remains fragile and the outlook for full implementation is uncertain.

The concern in Brussels is that if the accord falls apart like its September predecessor, that would bolster calls in Washington for much tougher action, including possibly arming Kiev to combat the pro-Russian rebels.

"So far the ceasefire... is not perfect but for sure the trend is positive," EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini said as EU foreign ministers gathered in the Latvian capital Riga, where Russian intervention in Ukraine is seen as a direct security threat.

Asked about the possibility of additional sanctions, Mogherini said: "Obviously they are always there."

"They will not be lifted until something really good happens on the ground and on the other side we are always ready to increase the pressure if needed," she said.

"But I don't start from that. I start from the positive actions the European Union can do now to make things work."

What mattered was the ceasefire, especially the withdrawal of heavy weapons by both sides, Mogherini said, and to strengthen OSCE monitoring implementation on the ground.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier echoed Mogherini's stand, saying Berlin was focused on the Minsk accord, not sanctions.

"We are trying to accelerate again the (peace) process. That is the issue in the foreground and not the question if there will be new sanctions," Steinmeier said as he arrived for the Riga meeting.

As the Ukraine crisis deepened last year, the EU cautiously followed the U.S. lead to hit prominent Russians and Ukrainians with travel bans and asset freezes.

But the shooting down of a Malaysia Airline plane over Ukraine in July, blamed on pro-Russian rebels in the east, saw holdouts Germany and Italy agree to much tougher economic sector sanctions.

The question since has been what comes next?

Hardline Poland Friday raised the "nuclear option" of blocking Russian access to the SWIFT bank settlement system, an explosive move capable of crippling Russia's economy that Moscow has said would be tantamount to war.

"When it comes to sanctions, SWIFT is the nuclear weapon. It is the last resort and we are all aware of that," Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said at a press conference in Warsaw with British counterpart Philip Hammond.

"This would be a very extreme sanction measure. It would have a very significant impact on the Russian economy," Hammond said, adding that discussion on the option was taking place "primarily in the U.S."

At the same time, work had to continue on "a whole range of potential sanctions options, so that we have maximum flexibility, maximum agility and maximum speed in reacting to any provocation," Hammond said.

European Union leaders will tackle the issue at a summit in March as the earliest sanctions imposed for a year progressively come up for renewal.

Washington charged earlier this week that Russia had "thousands and thousands" of troops on the ground in eastern Ukraine and had supplied the rebels with sophisticated heavy equipment and training.

Moscow dismissed the claims as fanciful.

On the ground Friday, Ukraine reported no military casualties in the east, but blamed rebels for continuing attacks on its positions.

Ukraine's army puts the official toll at 48 troops since the ceasefire went into effect on February 15 but the figure is likely to be higher when casualties in Debaltseve, a key railway hub captured by the rebels, are counted.

Both sides claim they are complying with the Minsk ceasefire accords, and swap charges of ill-faith.

In Moscow, meanwhile, Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko decided to end a hunger strike after going more than 80 days without food to protest her detention in a Russian jail, one of her lawyers said.

"She has taken the decision," lawyer Mark Feigin said.

Comments 0