EU foreign ministers who met in Brussels on Monday evening demanded an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops to their legitimate bases in Crimea under international agreements reached with Ukraine.
While the statement was couched in strong language, it was light on specific actions that the EU intends to take in response to the crisis with Russia over Ukraine.
The EU ministers warned that “in the absence of de-escalating steps by Russia, the EU shall decide about consequences for bilateral relations between the EU and Russia.” This could include suspension of talks on reform of visa regulations and “further targeted measures.”
“Let’s stick to legally correct terms: sanctions can only be imposed by the UN Security Council, everything else is just unilateral restrictive measures. No such measures by the European Union against Russia are on the agenda at present,” envoy Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.
- Chizhov said that “no one ever mentioned” a full EU entry ban on all Russians, but said that talks between Moscow and Brussels on a visa-free regime have been “de-facto frozen by the EU.”
Troops under apparent Russian command, many of them traveling in military trucks and armored personnel carriers, have deployed widely around Crimea, as attested by numerous eyewitness accounts from reporters on the ground. The deployment led to strong condemnation of Russia worldwide.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday denied such a deployment had taken place, however, insisting that the troops were part of “local militias.”
http://en.ria.ru/russia/20140305/188093470/EU-Plans-No-Sanctions-on-Russia-for-Now--Russian-Envoy.html
4/3/14
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Related:
US halts military engagements with Russia over Ukraine crisis / United States and its allies could "further isolate" Russia
Russia is allowed to have 25,000 troops in Crimea...and other facts you didn’t know
Reply to the Statement of the Russian Federation on Ukraine at the Special Meeting of the Permanent Council. -Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Ουκρανία: ο δρόμος για την επίλυση της κρίσης. -Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο
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Hollande no descarta proponer sanciones a Rusia horas antes de reunirse con Kerry en París.....
ReplyDelete1. El presidente francés cree que Rusia ha emprendido una 'escalada peligrosa'
2. 'El papel de Francia, en estas circunstancias, es el de ejercer toda la presión necesaria'
3. Este miércoles se entrevistará con el secretario de Estado de EEUU
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La reacción del presidente francés, evocada durante su intervención en un foro de instituciones judías, llega horas antes de que se encuentre este miércoles en París con el secretario de Estado de Estados Unidos, John Kerry, y el ministro ruso de Exteriores, Sergei Lavrov, en el marco de una cumbre sobre Líbano.
"Rusia, con quien dialogamos, debe comprender que está ante una decisión muy importante para el futuro de sus relaciones con Europa. Y que la única opción, digo bien, la única opción, es la negociación", agregó durante su intervención Hollande...................http://www.elmundo.es/internacional/2014/03/05/531698cbe2704e47238b458d.html
5/3/14
Crisis in Crimea: Moscow to appropriately respond to US, EU sanctions – Federation Council....
ReplyDeleteThe Russian Parliament's upper house, the Federation Council, warns that if any sanctions are slapped on the Russian Federation, Moscow will consider a symmetrical response, the Voice of Russia correspondent Lada Korotun reports.
The Head of the Constitutional Legislation Committee in the Russian Parliament's upper house, Andrei Klishas, has told reporters that if the western and EU countries imposed sanctions on Russia over the situation in Ukraine and Russia's moves to protect Ukrainian citizens, Moscow would retaliate appropriately and would lawfully seize the property, assets and bank accounts of US companies, as well as the companies of the countries that would also slap sanctions on Russia.
He added that a draft law is being currently prepared to that end, one that would authorize the President and the Government to block foreign companies' bank accounts, and arrest their property, all the way to seizing it.
The Russian Senator voiced certainty that the draft would be voted for by both the lower and upper house of the Russian Parliament.
He offered Cyprus as an example, where the EU made its aid to the insular nation conditional on this kind of seizure.
"Any US sanctions against Russia will not go unanswered”, Andrei Klishas said, "and the response will prove symmetrical."..................http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_05/Crisis-in-Crimea-Moscow-to-appropriately-respond-to-US-EU-sanctions-Federation-Council-3803/
5/3/14
La Russie pourrait geler les actifs des sociétés étrangères....
ReplyDeleteLes sénateurs russes préparent un document qui permettrait de geler les actifs des sociétés étrangères en réponse aux sanctions éventuelles de l'Occident, écrit mercredi le quotidien RBC Daily.
"Je prépare un projet de loi qui, en cas d'adoption de sanctions contre la Fédération de Russie, ses citoyens ou établissements, permettrait de geler les actifs des compagnies européennes et américaines, y compris privées, qui travaillent en Russie", a déclaré le président de la commission pour la législation constitutionnelle Andreï Klichas. Il a également expliqué qu'il comptait demander à la présidente du Conseil de la Fédération Valentina Matvienko d'examiner une loi qui accorderait au président et au gouvernement le droit de geler les comptes des représentants étrangers dans les banques russes, ainsi que de saisir la propriété des sociétés étrangères jusqu'à sa confiscation.
L'éventuelle adoption de sanctions occidentales contre la Russie a été commentée le 4 mars par le ministère russe des Affaires étrangères (MAE), qui accuse les Etats-Unis de mal juger la situation mondiale et a promis de réagir - pas forcément de manière symétrique - à la suspension par Washington de la coopération entre les deux pays et des négociations sur un accord commercial bilatéral................http://fr.ria.ru/presse_russe/20140305/200646733.html
5/3/14