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EU ministers call for new sanctions against Russia
Several European Union foreign ministers on Friday accused Russia of invading eastern Ukraine and said Moscow should be punished with additional biting economic sanctions
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everal European Union foreign ministers on Friday accused Russia of invading eastern Ukraine and said Moscow should be punished with additional biting economic sanctions.
The meeting of the 28-nation bloc's top diplomats in Milan came one day after NATO said Moscow slipped at least 1,000 Russian soldiers and much heavy weaponry into Ukraine.
"We have to be aware of what we are facing: We are now in the midst of the second Russian invasion of Ukraine within a year," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, referring to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March.
"We see regular Russian army units operating offensively on the Ukrainian territory against the Ukrainian army," Bildt said. "We must call a spade a spade."
Russia has rejected accusations that it invaded Ukraine.
The foreign ministers were set to propose new sanctions against Russia for consideration at a summit of the bloc's 28 heads of state on Saturday in Brussels.
All options except military action will be considered to punish Russia for pursuing "the wrong path," said Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.
"The European Union should be ready to move forward with possible new measures against Russia because the situation is still getting worse," said Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet.
In an apparent bid for more support and tougher action against Russia, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is set to meet with the head of the EU's executive Commission, President Jose Manuel Barroso, and summit Chairman Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels on Saturday a few hours before the summit.
Fighting between Ukrainian military forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has already claimed at least 2,200 lives, according to U.N. figures.
