EU poised to slap more sanctions on Russia over Crimea
Iran Press TV
Thu Mar 20, 2014 1:18PM GMT
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says the European Union (EU) will impose more sanctions on Russia following its decision to annex Ukraine's strategic Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
Addressing the lower house of German parliament, the Bundestag, ahead of an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Merkel said a discussion of financial sanctions -- what the EU is referring to as phase three of its response -- would take place at the summit, but no agreement on it is expected.
'The (summit) will make clear that we are ready at any time to introduce phase-three measures if there is a worsening of the situation,' Merkel added, noting that the EU would expand a freeze of bank accounts and travel bans on people who have been linked to the Crimean crisis.
The German chancellor went on to say that the bloc will suspend all G8 meetings until the political situation in Crimea changes. The Group of Eight (G8) is a forum for the governments of a group of eight leading industrialized countries, namely Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to host G8 leaders in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi in June.
While Germany, Britain, France, Poland and one or two other countries largely agree about the need to respond vigorously to Russia, including financial sanctions, most European countries have strong reservations.
Ukrainian lawmakers have announced that they will never recognize Russia's accession of Crimea, vowing to fight for the liberation of the region as long as it takes.
Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum a day earlier, in which 96.8 percent of Crimean residents voted in favor of the secession. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.
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