A package of additional sanctions against Russia is a warning to Moscow over illegal anexation of a territory and destabilisation of Ukraine that have been unacceptable in Europe in 21st century, President of European Commission Hose Manuel Barroso and President of European Council Herman Van Rompuy said in a joint statement on behalf of the European Union. EU will reengage with Russia when it starts contributing actively and without ambiguities to finding a solution to the Ukrainian crisis.
“Today the European Union has agreed a package of significant additional restrictive measures targeting sectoral cooperation and exchanges with the Russian Federation. These decisions will limit access to EU capital markets for Russian State-owned financial institutions, impose an embargo on trade in arms, establish an export ban for dual use goods for military end users, and curtail Russian access to sensitive technologies particularly in the field of the oil sector,” the statement said.
“This package reinforces the recently expanded listing of persons and entities undermining Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty, including the so-called ‘cronies’, the suspension of EIB and EBRD financing, the restriction of investment and trade with Crimea and Sevastopol and the reassessment of the Russia EU bilateral cooperation with a view to reducing the level of the cooperation,” it added.
Barroso and Van Rompuy said that the package responded to directions given by the European Council of 16 July: “It is meant as a strong warning: illegal annexation of territory and deliberate destabilisation of a neighbouring sovereign country cannot be accepted in 21st century Europe.”
“Furthermore, when the violence created spirals out of control and leads to the killing of almost 300 innocent civilians in their flight from the Netherlands to Malaysia, the situation requires urgent and determined response. The European Union will fulfil its obligations to protect and ensure the security of its citizens. And the European Union will stand by its neighbours and partners,” the statement said.
The two presidents pointed out that “the Russian Federation and the European Union have important common interests,” but that the dialogue and cooperation have been impossible at the moment “when Crimea is illegally annexed, when the Russian Federation supports armed revolt in Eastern Ukraine, when the violence unleashed kills innocent civilians.”
“The package of new restrictive measures agreed today by the European Union constitutes a powerful signal to the leaders of the Russian Federation: destabilising Ukraine, or any other Eastern European neighbouring State, will bring heavy costs to its economy.
“Russia will find itself increasingly isolated by its own actions. The European Union remains ready to reverse its decisions and reengage with Russia when it starts contributing actively and without ambiguities to finding a solution to the Ukrainian crisis,” Barroso and Van Rompuy said.
