Ukraine’s Representative to the European Union Konstantyn Yeliseyev admits he is very disappointed with EU’s decision regarding sanctions against Russia, reports Eupravda (part of Ukrainska Pravda), citing UNIAN, Thursday, July 10.
This is how the diplomat commented on the July 9 decision by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU (COREPER) to expand the number of sanctioned individuals to 11.
“In light of the conclusions of the European Council of June 27, as well as the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU, we were counting on more decisive and significant sanctions, including a move to the third level,” Yeliseyev said, referring to his appeal to the leadership of EU to apply tougher sanctions against Moscow in connection with the situation of the POW Nadia Savchenko.
“Despite Russia’s growing aggression against Ukraine, along with ample evidence of Moscow’s direct intervention and coordination of terrorists, today’s limited measures consist only of an expanded list of sanctioned separatists,” he said.
According to Yeliseyev, this so-called “progress” in the context of restraining the aggressor is an imitation of action or simply process for the sake of process.”
He also says he has the impression that certain member countries of the EU are “playing a double game.”
“Otherwise, I find it hard to explain how, for example, the foreign minister of one country, immediately after visiting Kyiv, could go to Moscow and invite the Kremlin leadership to participate in the ASEM Summit (Asia-Europe) on October 16-17, or how representatives of two influential countries not only could resist implementing third level sanctions, but then strongly pressure Ukraine to negotiate with terrorists, who refuse to lay down their arms, who criminally abduct Ukrainian citizens, and who continue to hold hostages,” he said.
However, Yeliseyev said he is still hoping that, at the European Council meeting of July 16, the EU will “abandon its wait and see attitude and display some integrity.”
“This is not hard to do: they simply need to analyze Moscow’s level of compliance with the Council’s requirements of June 27. The absence of progress here is obvious. For more than 10 years, the EU has been telling Ukraine that democratic values are more important than economic or trade advantages. On July 22, we will receive another batch of this instruction as part of the ministerial meeting of 28 EU countries and 6 countries of the “Eastern Partnership.” Today the EU has the opportunity to demonstrate in practice its commitment to these values,” Yeliseyev concluded.
Translated by Anna Mostovych
Source: Eupravda
