Brussels, 09/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - EU foreign ministers, meeting on Monday 16 February, adopted sanctions against 19 persons and nine entities, but agreed to delay implementation until 16 February in view of the peace talks currently taking place.
“The principle of these sanctions in connection with Mariupol remains but implementation will depend on how things work out on the ground. In concrete terms, we'll take stock next Monday. Between now and then, we'll see if the Minsk meeting (with the presidents of France, Russia and Ukraine and the German chancellor, scheduled for Wednesday 11 February) takes place, what comes from it and we'll be able to make a judgment”, said French Minister Laurent Fabius.
“To give diplomatic efforts space, it was decided that the entry into force of the sanctions will be delayed until Monday” 16 February, said High Representative Federica Mogherini who stated that the situation would be considered by heads of state and/or government at their informal summit on Thursday 12 February. Belgian Minister Didier Reynders said that the sanctions were due to come into effect on Monday 16 February, when they are published in the Official Journal, unless the member states unanimously decide otherwise. He said that the purpose of the delay in publishing the measures is to give every possible chance of success to the current talks, while taking account of the conclusions of previous events.
Reynders revealed that it had not been France or Germany but the high representative who had opened the debate on sanctions, a debate which lasted two hours as a result of interventions by the member states and the legal services. Excluding these new sanctions, 132 persons and 28 entities have been placed under sanction as a consequence of breaches of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Discussions continue ahead of Minsk summit
Mogherini said that ministers backed all the efforts being made to hold a meeting to bring about implementation of the Minsk agreement.
Fabius said that discussions were continuing ahead of the Minsk summit on 11 February. “The aim is to bring de-escalation and peace. We are by no means certain of achieving that outcome”, he acknowledged. “The Minsk protocol has been signed and is the reference. Since then, some developments have taken place on the ground. However, as far as possible, we must abide by the Minsk protocol”, he stressed. He said that many questions had been asked, for example, “How far from the demarcation line should heavy weapons be withdrawn?”; “How can respect for the border be ensured?”; or “What will become of the Donbass provinces from a legal point of view?”. “The question today is above all the issue of the withdrawal of heavy weapons because, if we want to get a cease-fire - and that is the aim - then peace, we have to make sure that heavy weaponry is not used”, the French minister stated. “We are in an extremely serious situation and the agreement that might be reached (in Minsk) is the last chance before we move on to a scenario where sanctions are toughened”, warned Spanish minister José Manuel García Margallo, who expressed the view that the EU had already lost €21 billion in exports to Russia as a result of the sanctions.
According to German Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, however, it is not certain that the Minsk summit will take place, as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is keen for agreement to be reached on a number of points in the peace plan for Ukraine before the summit takes place. “It is still not certain that the summit of Russian, Ukrainian, German and French leaders in Minsk on Wednesday to bring an end to hostilities in the east of Ukraine will in fact take place. … There is still a lot of work to do”, he made clear.
Neighbourhood Policy Commissioner Johannes Hahn called on Ukraine to make the necessary reforms so that the conference of donors/investors can take place in April. “I hope that, during the month of April, the government will abide by its promises and bring forward concrete reforms which provide the basis for an investors' conference, I hope, in April”, he said (our translation throughout). (Camille-Cerise Gessant and Jan Kordys)