The West should freeze all Russian assets — Yatseniuk

World leaders should consider freezing all Russian assets and finances until Russia withdraws its military forces, equipment and agents from Ukraine, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said on Thursday, August 28, reports the news agency rbc.ua. The sanctions imposed so far have not had the desired results, Yatseniuk said, after signing a memorandum of cooperation with the Ukrainian World Congress. "Unfortunately, the imposed sanctions have failed to deescalate the situation in Ukraine. Under such circumstances, one of the factors that should be considered to contain Russian aggression is the freezing of all Russian assets and the cessation  of all banking transactions of the Russian Federation in the member countries of the European Union, the US and the Group of Seven countries. The Russian assets and finances should be frozen until Russia withdraws its armed forces, equipment and agents from Ukraine," he said. According to Yatseniuk, Russia has increased its presence in Ukraine significantly over the past several days . As previously reported, the EU has imposed three waves of sanctions against Russia, with the most recent one economic. Most of the sanctions affected primarily the leaders of the Donetsk and Luhansk "republics" and Crimea. [hr] rbc.ua, translated by Anna Mostovych