Passports of the Russian Federation in the Donbas: EU not to Impose Sanctions

The EU does not plan to impose new sanctions against Russia for the issuing of passports in the Donbas. The EU does not want to put pressure on Russia, and is concerned about the search for dialogue. The European Union does not plan to impose new sanctions against Russia because of the decision to issue Russian passports to residents of Donbas, told to journalists the Foreign Ministers of the EU member states, gathered in Brussels to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Eastern partnership. In particular, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Tomáš Petříček said that the EU is aware of the decision of the Russian Federation, but has no plans to increase pressure on Moscow because of it. “Now we are more concerned about the search for dialogue, not pressure, as so the Russian Federation does”, he said. Romanian Minister Teodor Meleșcanu also confirmed the position of the Europeans. He assured journalists that Ukrainians do not need new sanctions against Russia either.  He said that “this will create problems for Ukraine itself”, but he did not specify what kind of problems. It should be noted that Kyiv called on the EU to increase pressure on Russia. Some EU Member States that are usually among the friends of Ukraine in the European Union stand for tougher sanctions. In particular, Lithuanian Minister Linas Linkevičius stated this. “It (passports issuing) is deep violation of the international law. We agreed that further violation of international law should lead to increase of pressure, so I believe that there should be new sanctions”, he said. “We have to impose personal sanctions against the Russians involved in this decision, as well as to decide that the EU does not recognize these passports”, Estonian Minister Urmas Reinsalu said. At the same time to impose sanctions there should be a consensus within the EU s needed, which is missing so far. korrespondent.net