European Union leaders threatened after an extraordinary meeting Thursday in Brussels to use economic sanctions against Russia ‘’if Moscow further destabilizes the situation in Ukraine.’’
In the meantime however, they decided some actions against Russia after ‘’strongly condemning the unprovoked violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity’’ in Crimea and demanding that Russia immediately withdraw its forces from the peninsula, grant access to monitors, and begin negotiations.
The measures decided include the suspension of bilateral talks with the Russian Federation on visa matters as well as talks on a new agreement. They also supported the decision by the EU members of the G8 and the EU institutions to suspend their participation in the summit which will tak place in July in June in the Russian resort of Sochi.
‘’The solution of the crisis in Ukraine should be found through negotiations between the governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation,’’ the statement issued after the EU summit said. ‘’Such negotiations need to start within the next few days and
France and Germany said various kinds of sanctions would come up for discussion, but would only be used if efforts to bring about direct contact between the two sides failed.
Among these sanctions are travel bans, asset freezes and the cancellation of the EU-Russia summit.
The EU also reiterated its commitment to sign an association agreement with Ukraine.
The special summit on Ukraine was marked by the presence of the Ukrainian interim Prime Miniuster Arseny Yatsenyuk. Never before has an EU summit been attended by the leader of a non-EU country.
Also during the meeting, Crimea's parliament voted to join Russia and decided that a referendum on the status of the Ukrainian peninsula would take place on 16 March, increasing the pressure on the EU to take sanctions against Moscow.