Brussels, 16/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 16 June, Ukraine's ambassador to the EU, Kostiantyn Yelisieiev, stated that the ceasefire in Ukraine was breached “daily”.
“Although the ceasefire is breached daily, we Ukrainians are fulfilling our obligations to calm the situation”, he told the European Parliament's security and defence sub-committee. In Yelisieiev's opinion, “Russia and its accomplices are completely ignoring [their] commitments” and they “arouse escalation in the confrontation” with a “'sausaging' tactic” - occupying “one village after another so that there is not too strong a breach”. The director of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Gunnar Wiegrand, confirmed that “there is still fighting in the north, the centre and the south of the Donbass region”.
Wiegrand called on all the parties to implement the Minsk agreements, reiterating that there should not only be legislation - which has already been approved - that grants a special permanent status to Donbass, but also a constitutional reform that grants this status. “Time is pressing on this issue”, he stressed.
In Yelisieiev's view, “a strong response from the EU to Russia's actions is the only means of resolving the situation”. He said it would be helpful to organise a visit of European ambassadors to Donbass - just as High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini should return there “as soon as possible to see how the situation lies and how it has evolved since her last visit seven months ago”.
While Mogherini is awaited, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn will be in Ukraine on Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 June, where he will meet Ukraine's president, prime minister and president of the Rada. Hahn will be followed by European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides on 1-2 July.
Yelisieiev again called for further European sanctions. “Russia must be induced to respect international law through the adoption of new restrictive measures. New sanctions must seriously be envisaged to prevent the situation escalating further”, he said, adding that he wanted the sanctions to be implemented “as soon as possible”.
While emphasising the EU's soft power instrument, Yelisieiev added that the EU should also show hard power - for example, by launching a CSDP mission to secure the border with Russia (which the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly requested). “In my opinion, there aren't any other alternatives for supporting the Minsk agreements visibly”, he said. (Camille-Cerise Gessant)