EU hopes to avert Ukraine war with talks, sanctions threat

BRUSSELS – European Union leaders connected Thursday pressed Russia to instrumentality to bid talks with Ukraine and renewed their menace to enforce unprecedented sanctions connected Moscow successful tandem with the United States and Britain should Russian equipped forces transverse the border.

The EU’s telephone for a instrumentality to the negotiating array came arsenic Russia said it had submitted draught documents to the United States outlining information arrangements that it wants to negociate with Washington and its allies successful the NATO subject alliance. NATO is suggesting it mightiness beryllium consenting to sermon them.

U.S. quality officials accidental Russia has moved 70,000 troops and is preparing for a imaginable penetration aboriginal adjacent year. Moscow denies it has immoderate plans to attack, arsenic it did successful 2014 erstwhile it annexed the Crimean Peninsula, but says it wants guarantees that Ukraine volition ne'er articulation NATO.

In a connection successful Brussels, the EU leaders underlined “the urgent request for Russia to de-escalate tensions caused by the subject buildup on its borderline with Ukraine and assertive rhetoric.” They pledged their “full enactment for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Ad

They said the EU “encourages diplomatic efforts and supports the Normandy format successful achieving the afloat implementation of the Minsk Agreements,” successful notation to French and German brokered talks betwixt the 2 sides aimed astatine enforcing a 2015 bid deal.

The leaders repeated a connection sent from the U.S., Britain and the Group of Seven concern nations successful caller weeks that “any further subject aggression against Ukraine volition person monolithic consequences and terrible outgo successful response, including restrictive measures coordinated with partners.”

The EU is divided implicit erstwhile to deed Moscow with sanctions. France, Germany and Italy privation to clasp fire, expressing interest that specified enactment could bring connected an onslaught and believing that a diplomatic solution tin beryllium found.

Countries connected the EU’s eastbound flank person to Russia judge sanctions would enactment champion arsenic a deterrent and should beryllium imposed immediately. Ukraine’s president wants much sanctions to beryllium imposed earlier — alternatively of aft — immoderate imaginable incursion, but his plea has fallen connected deaf ears.

Ad

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, whose state borders Russia, said the EU should not underestimate the menace the unit buildup poses. He warned that Moscow’s actions are creating 1 of the worst information situations since the illness of the Soviet Union.

“I’m talking not lone astir Ukraine,” Nauseda said, stressing that the full Baltic portion and Poland should beryllium concerned.

France and Germany’s bid efforts successful 2015 helped extremity large-scale hostilities successful eastbound Ukraine, wherever Ukrainian forces person been warring Russia-backed separatists since 2014. But the conflict, which has near 14,000 dead, has simmered.

EU lawmakers said successful a solution that “any caller sanctions bundle should see the Russian serviceman corps and emblem officers progressive successful the readying of a imaginable invasion, arsenic good arsenic the contiguous ellipse and oligarchs ‘in the orbit of the Russian President and their families.’”

Ad

They said it should impact “the freezing of fiscal and carnal assets successful the EU, question bans, the exclusion of Russia from the SWIFT outgo system” for planetary fiscal transfers, people cardinal economical sectors and disrupt the financing of the quality services and the equipped forces.

The lawmakers person nary decision-making powers connected sanctions, but their experts often person elaborate cognition of what subordinate countries are reasoning connected associated overseas argumentation initiatives.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin again prodded Western leaders to supply legally binding guarantees that Ukraine would ne'er articulation NATO oregon that its members weapons would ever beryllium deployed there, calling specified moves a “red line” for Moscow.

The U.S. and its allies person refused to marque specified a pledge, but Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed past week connected further talks to sermon Russian concerns.

___

Associated Press writers Frank Jordans successful Berlin and Vladimir Isachenkov successful Moscow contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.