A proposal to target a wide range of people and companies, including 351 members of the Russian Duma, is being resisted by Hungary, whose rightwing leader, Viktor Orbán, has a warm relationship with President Putin.
Meanwhile, despite the decision in Berlin to suspend certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Germany, France and Italy have been accused by more hawkish EU member states of “fetishizing incremental” moves when it comes to a broader economic sanctions package.
Comments by political leaders from London and Brussels were also markedly different on Tuesday morning, despite attempts over the previous months to coordinate an approach against Russia.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, claimed that the movement of Russian military forces into separatist territories in southeast Ukraine did not yet count as a “fully fledged invasion”, while UK cabinet minister Sajid Javid was more hawkish.
“We have seen that Putin has recognized breakaway eastern regions in Ukraine and from the reports we can already tell that he has sent in tanks and troops,” Javid said. “From that you can conclude that the invasion of Ukraine has begun.”
The health secretary’s comments were later moderated by Boris Johnson, who said he would announce sanctions at lunchtime on Tuesday but that “there is a lot more that we are going to do in the event of an invasion”.
The problem facing the West ssion is that Putin’s forces have long been thought to be present in Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk and Lugansk – collectively known as the Donbas.
The U.S. had briefed a week ago that, unlike during the 2014 invasion of Ukraine, sanctions this time would start at the top of the ladder and stay there, rather than be gradually escalated. Johnson has also said that sanctions would be implemented as soon as one Russian toe-cap crossed into Ukrainian-held territory.
But at the point at which “peace-keeping” forces were formally sent by Putin into Ukraine, the West has proven less surefooted.
A debate continues within the EU over how far to go in relation to current move by Moscow, with Baltic member states pushing for the toughest possible response.
During a meeting on Tuesday morning of ambassadors for the 27 EU member states, the EU’s foreign affairs wing, the European external action service (EEAS), proposed sanctioning 27 persons and entities involved in the Kremlin’s decision over Lugansk and Donetsk, the 351 members of the Duma that voted in favor of it and the 11 that proposed it along with the commanders of the Russian military “peacekeeping” mission.
But Orban’s government in Hungary has refused to support the move at this stage, diplomatic sources said.
EU foreign ministers were meeting in Paris Tuesday afternoon to find a common position.
Sources said there were, however, “some worrying signals regarding the broader sanctions package”.
According to one diplomat, Austria, Germany and Italy stressed the importance of gradually escalating the sanctions imposed for fear of losing leverage. Any sanctions package requires unanimity.
The source said: “This fetish for incremental steps really raises questions on these countries’ willingness to approve the ‘big bang’ sanctions package when we need it.”
Kyiv, meanwhile, recalled its top diplomat from Moscow as President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Putin’s recognition of the breakaway regions heralded “further military aggression” against Ukraine.
In Moscow the lower house of the Russian parliament, the Duma, voted to approve Putin’s friendship deals with the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR).
This will give Putin legal cover for the deployment of forces into the rebel-held territories. Zelensky said he would decide immediately after his talks with Karis whether to cut diplomatic ties with Moscow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if Kyiv did so, it would be “an extremely undesirable scenario that would make everything even more difficult”.
Putin described Ukraine as a failed state and “puppet” of the West, accusing Kyiv of preparing a “blitzkrieg” to retake the separatist regions.
The move to recognize them, Putin said, was “a long overdue decision”.
He was then shown signing “friendship” agreements with rebel leaders that allowed for the official deployment of Russian forces to “maintain peace” and the sharing of military bases and border protection.
Fighting appeared to have eased overnight Tuesday, with the Ukrainian military saying there had been only nine violations of the ceasefire between midnight and 11:00 am.
On Monday there had been 84 violations, with two soldiers killed and 18 wounded.
No comments:
Post a Comment