EU summit fails to pick top leaders but does crack down on Russia LISBON, Portugal — There’s some irony that a European Union summit derailed largely by divisions over how to handle Russia ended up clearing the way for what are likely to be the EU’s hardest-hitting sanctions on Moscow. Disputes among the 28 EU presidents and prime ministers over how tough candidates for new leadership posts should be toward Russia prevented agreement on a team to coordinate the union’s foreign and summit policies for the next five years. But the meeting, which broke up early Thursday at EU headquarters in Brussels, did agree to suspend financing for Russia from the EU’s investment arm and draw up a wider list of individuals and companies to be hit with sanctions by the end of this month. Although unlikely to go as far as American measures against Russian businesses announced Wednesday by President Barack Obama, the EU sanctions represent a significant hardening of the European position. The EU said it will take aim at “individuals or entities who actively provide material or financial support to the Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilization of Eastern-Ukraine.” That suggests figures and firms close to the Kremlin. “There has been no progress regarding Russia’s [...] newsinca/eu-summit-fails-to-pick-top-leaders-but-does-crack-down-on-russia/
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 02:30:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015