Many media outlets report on yesterday’s meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, in which they notably discussed the situation in Ukraine. Regarding Ukraine, the question was whether the Minsk cease-fire agreement still has a chance of success, and what to do concerning the sanctions against Russia.
The FT reports “deep divisions” regarding potential extensions of the EU’s toughest sanctions against Russia, claiming that EU Foreign Affairs Ministers “did little to hide their differences” when meeting to discuss the issue yesterday. Bloomberg Radio’s correspondent Joan Taden actually stresses that “there’s really no consensus at this point about what to do, going forward, in terms of sanctions”. According to Ö1, Commissioner Hahn stated that the latest armistice breaches cannot be accepted, but one still has to find a political-diplomatic solution.
Many media report that in a statement yesterday, one year after the holding of the referendum which led to Crimea’s annexation by Russia, EU High Representative Vice-President Federica Mogherini reiterated that the EU will remain steadfast in its policy not to recognise the annexation of Crimea by Russia and expressed concern about the development of armed forces and the worsening situation of human rights in the area, including the censorship of freedom of speech and the persecution of minorities.
Gazeta Wyborcza reports that the President of the European Council Donald Tusk would like the EU to clearly state that the sanctions will continue until the terms of the Minsk II accord are fulfilled. Die Welt mentions that German Foreign Affairs Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged the Ukrainian government not to prematurely declare dead the peace agreement with the separatists, pointing out that progress was being made on implementing Minsk II. However, Het Financieele Dagblad observes that an increasing amount of politicians and militaries do not believe in a diplomatic solution any longer and are convinced that the only means to keep the Russians out of former Soviet countries is providing weapons by the Western World.
The WSJE meanwhile reports that German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Europe to maintain pressure on Russia through sanctions, urging unity as Russia tries to renew ties with EU governments sceptical of sanctions, such as Italy and Cyprus. Speaking after a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Berlin yesterday, she also reiterated that Germany will not recognise the separation of Crimea from Ukraine and said European Union leaders meeting in Brussels this week need to commit to maintaining current sanctions against Russia until Moscow makes good on the steps outlined in peace deals reached in Minsk in September and February.
Petro Poroshenko meanwhile called for the European Union leaders to exert more pressure on Russia. Many op-ed pieces in the German press today comment upon the meeting. Meanwhile, some newspapers like Rzeczpospolita report that after a prolonged absence from public duties the Russian President Vladimir Putin has reappeared in function with the Kazakh President Almazbek Atambayev. The rumours explained his disappearance from the public eye was due to a nervous breakdown from the stress over Ukraine or by the effects of infighting between members of the Kremlin elite.
Some newspapers including Le Monde also report that on Sunday, the Kremlin disclosed a file in which the Russian president admitted that Russia was ready to use its nuclear weapons to fight against a Western intervention when Russia annexed Crimea. In other news, Romanian media report that Russia began the most extensive military exercises organised since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, exactly one year after Crimea’s annexation. Apart from the synchronisation with this anniversary, Moscow claims that the drills were organised in reply to NATO’s decision to relocate its troops along the Eastern side. ©europeanunion2015
