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At a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers held this Monday in Brussels, the High Representative, Josep Borrell, confessed that, together with his allies, they are studying sanctions against Russia. This, given the Russian military advance on the border with Ukraine. However, the tension between Kiev and Moscow dates back to 2014, when President Vladimir Putin annexed the Ukrainian province of Crimea to his country.
This Monday, December 13, Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Policy, announced upon his arrival at the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels, that “we are studying together with the EE. The United States and the United Kingdom what (sanctions) could be, when and how, in a coordinated manner ”, but that they would not make decisions this Monday.
“We are in a deterrent mode to prevent a crisis from starting, but we will send the clear signal that any aggression against Ukraine will have a high cost for Russia if it occurs. But now we are trying to do our best to prevent this from happening,” Borrell said .
At the same meeting, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis confessed that “we are convinced that Russia is preparing for an all-out war against Ukraine. It is an event without precedent probably since World War II.”
“If it is an unprecedented attack, that means the response has to be unprecedented in Western countries as well,” Landsbergis added.
Western leaders fear that Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014, will attack Ukraine, as it has concentrated dozens of soldiers on the border with the neighboring country.
What kind of sanctions could the EU impose on Russia in the event of an attack on Ukraine?
Last Sunday, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven, made up of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the United States, Japan and Canada, plus the EU, met in Liverpool. At this conference, they reiterated to Russia that an attack on Ukraine would have “massive consequences.”
EU diplomats told Reuters that “discussions focused on a possible gradual increase in sanctions, ranging from possible travel bans and asset freezes of Russian politicians to banning financial and banking ties with Russia.”
They also considered sanctioning the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany to prevent it from coming online, as well as punishing more Russian state defense and energy companies or canceling natural gas contracts.
In July 2014, the EU and the United States imposed economic sanctions on Russia, targeting its energy, banking and defense sectors.
Russia distrusts NATO
Sergei Riabkov, the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, warned in an interview published this Monday by the official Russian agency RIA Novosti that “the lack of progress in the political-diplomatic solution of this problem will lead to our response being military and technical- military”.
Riabkov believes that NATO intends to deploy short- and medium-range nuclear missiles. For him, there are “indirect indications” that the Atlantic Alliance is approaching the redeployment of intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) in Europe, a treaty signed in 1987 by the then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and the president of the United States. Ronald Reagan and denounced by the US and Russia in 2019. Therefore, he demands that the United States and NATO provide security guarantees to prevent the Atlantic Alliance from getting closer to their borders.
“In the first place, there is no confidence in NATO as an alliance. Many times we have found ourselves in the situation when today they say one thing; the day after tomorrow, another, and in a year, a third. And all this as the most natural thing of the world, “he explained.
“Currently we do not have them (with short and medium range missiles), in our country there is a unilateral moratorium and we call on the US and NATO to join this moratorium,” said the Russian deputy minister.
And he added that “it is not allowed to do anything that in any way may increase our security; they believe that they can act as they need, for their benefit and we simply have to swallow all this and deal with it. This is not going to continue,” he said. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
Finally, Riabkov said that Russia “will present its follow-up proposals to the United States, and possibly also to other NATO countries, in the coming weeks.”
The fears of the West
The tension between Kiev and Moscow dates back to 2014, when Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed the Ukrainian province of Crimea to his country. However, the situation worsened in recent weeks, when Russia began conducting military exercises at more than 30 locations in six different regions.
Western leaders fear that Russia will invade and attack Ukraine, something Moscow has repeatedly denied. In fact, it accuses Kiev of mobilizing 125,000 soldiers in the conflict zone. In effect, the Kremlin demands security guarantees from the West.
With EFE and Reuters
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