Brussels, 10/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 9 July, the ambassadors of the EU member states agreed on a list of 11 new people on whom sanctions will be imposed due to the situation in the east of Ukraine. According to a European source, the majority of people sanctioned are pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists - but Russians are also be concerned. The list of 11 names proposed to the ambassadors is now to be the subject of a written procedure in the member states - which will come to an end at midday on 11 July. The sanctions will be published in the Official Journal of the EU.
On 27 May, the European Council threatened new sanctions if progress was not made on an agreement on a verification mechanism, under the observation of the OSCE, concerning the ceasefire and effective border control; the opening of in-depth negotiations on implementing Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's peace plan; the release of all hostages; and the return of three border posts to the control of the Ukrainian authorities (see EUROPE 11110). Progress has been made but, on 17 July, the ambassadors deemed this to be insufficient and agreed to take additional measures (see EUROPE 11117).
Without counting the 11 new people, 61 pro-Russian Ukrainians have already had sanctions taken out against them - in the form of an assets freeze and an EU visa ban.
France and Germany call for military restraint from Ukraine. Elsewhere, France's President François Hollande and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Poroshenko during a conference call “to show the necessary restraint on the military level so as to spare the civilian people”. The Ukrainian army has re-taken several towns, including Sloviansk, which were occupied by pro-Russian separatists, and the army is advancing towards Donetsk. Merkel and Hollande also reiterated the need for the Russian authorities to put pressure on the separatists in order to bring them to negotiate, and to control the Russian-Ukrainian border effectively. They “will have contact with Russia's President Vladimir Putin on this issue in the coming days”, adds a press release from Hollande's office at the Elysée Palace - but it did not give more detail.
Following a meeting with Italy's Minister for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, Putin said he hoped the Italian Presidency of the EU (which started on 1 July) “will serve as a reason to extend the level and quality of the relations” developed between Russia and Italy “to the entire European Union”. (CG)