At an extraordinary meeting in Brussels called to discuss the worsening fighting in Eastern Ukraine, European Foreign Ministers decided Thursday to extend the existing sanctions against Russian and pro-Russia separatist officials.
‘’The Council strongly condemns the indiscriminate shelling of the residential areas, especially in Mariupol and the recent escalation of fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine,’’ a statement issued after the meeting said. ‘’The Council is shocked by the high number of casualties. It notes evidence of continued and growing support given to the separatists by Russia, which underlines Russia's responsibility.’’
EU ministers decided to add new names to a blacklist agreed last year but failed short of proposing new sanctions on Russia. According to the statement, the Council of ministers called on EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the European Commission ‘’to present within a week a proposal on additional listings for decision at the Foreign Affairs Council on February 9. This means broader financial and economic sanctions against Moscow than those imposed last July.
In March 2014, the EU imposed the first visa bans and asset freezes against officials linked to Russia's annexation of southern Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. The measures were due to expire this March, and Thursday's decision will extend them until at least September.
"We have shown that the EU is ready to take further measures," Mogherini said.
She said that on top of the decision to extend the first batch of sanctions currently affecting some 130 people, the EU was also preparing a list of new officials to be put on the visa ban and asset freeze program, which could be confirmed at the February 9 meeting.
Britain has pushed for stronger sanctions against Moscow but France and other countries said that while firmness was essential, room for negotiation had to be kept open.
The new radical left Greek government said Greece believes new sanctions won't bear fruit and questioned whether the EU wanted to crush Russia, "resulting in pain for the whole of Europe."
"Sanctions haven't worked anywhere, except for countries in the process of collapse," Kotzias said. "Also, when you impose sanctions, you should know what consequences they will have. For example, the sanctions created financial problems for Greece."