European leaders defend Kiev’s right to sovereignty at the Eastern Partnership Summit and threaten Russia with more sanctions
Calls for dialogue combined with a torrent of threat-laden ‘explosive phrases’. The massive deployment of Russian troops in front of the Ukrainian border and the latent fear of a new Kremlin aggression towards the former Soviet republic capitalized yesterday the sixth summit on Eastern Partnership held in Brussels. This meeting served to analyze the progress in collaboration with neighboring EU countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova or Ukraine. Also with Belarus. Although this time it was vetoed by the sanctions imposed on Alexander Lukashenko’s regime and the migration crisis that forced Minsk into the dividing line with Poland and several Baltic countries.
The point is that it was Russia and its military pressure on Ukraine that aroused the discomfort of European leaders. Seamless closing of ranks towards the country that aspires to be a member of the EU itself and also a full member of NATO in the face of Vladimir Putin who in recent days has even suggested to the Atlantic Alliance that it terminate its special relationship of commitment with this country (also with Georgia) that both have maintained for thirteen years.
As the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, had already made clear the day before, the member states reaffirmed that no aggression against the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine will be accepted. But they also made it clear that the Eastern countries that were once under Soviet orbit have a “sovereign right” to decide their future and their relationship with the community club.
More penalties
The EU – which within the framework of the Eastern Partnership initiative offers money, technical assistance and free trade to the Eastern countries meeting this Wednesday in Brussels – made it clear that its main concern now in the region is the concentration of Russian troops in the border with Ukraine. According to US estimates, some 100,000 soldiers have been deployed by the Kremlin in what seems to point to the existence of invasion plans, such as when Moscow already annexed Crimea in 2014.
Faced with this threat, the EU once again stressed that its pulse will not tremble to take “unprecedented measures” against Russia, warned the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. “Our response to any further aggression may take the form of a robust augmentation and expansion of these existing sanctions regimes,” he added. Meanwhile, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, warned that Moscow will pay “a high price” in case of violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The French Foreign Minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, took the same line, while Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi urged an immediate reduction of tensions with Kiev.
The European Council underlines the urgent need for Russia to reduce tensions caused by the coJean-Yves Le Driann military entrapment along its border with Ukraine and the aggressive rhetoric. The European Council reiterates its full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Any new military aggression against Ukraine will have massive consequences and a severe cost in response.
Topics
Josep Borrell Fontelles, Mario Draghi, Vladimir Putin, European Union (EU), Crimea, United States, Georgia, Kiev, Minsk, Russia, Ukraine, Crisis in Ukraine, Refugee Drama
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