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EU must be ready with Russia sanctions over Ukraine: Britain

04 April 2014 23:37 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Britain urged its European Union partners on Friday to press ahead with preparing tough economic sanctions against Russia, saying large numbers of Russian forces remained on Ukraine's eastern border and there had been only a "token" withdrawal, APA reports quoting Reuters.

"We haven't seen real de-escalation by Russia and therefore Europe must not relax in preparing a third tier of sanctions and making sure we continue to have a strong and united response," British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters as he arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Athens.

He was referring to trade and economic measures the EU has threatened to take against Russia after its annexation of Crimea if it moves into southern and eastern Ukraine. At the two-day meeting in the Greek capital, the ministers will discuss ways the European Union can help Kiev overcome its conflict with Moscow and debate how to change the bloc's approach towards its neighbours in light of the Ukraine crisis.

They could look at preparing possible new sanctions against Russia and how the EU can help Kiev benefit from its 11-billion-euro ($15-billion) aid package announced in recent weeks. Hague said it was too early for the EU's 28 governments to bolster sanctions against Moscow. "But they have to be ready because the situation remains very dangerous," he said.

Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula has brought Europe and Russia into their biggest conflict since the Cold War and is raising questions about the bloc's long-term policy towards Moscow and about the EU's ability to support stability in the region.