BRUSSELS, November 4. /TASS/. The foreign ministers of the European Union’s 28 member states will consider the situation around the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions for Moscow’s position on Ukrainian events at a meeting on November 17, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Federica Mogherini, said Tuesday.
The West led by the United States subjected Russia to sanctions, including visa bans, asset freezes and sectoral restrictions, following Crimea’s incorporation by Russia in March following a coup in Ukraine in February and the start of clashes in Ukraine’s southeast that the West claimed Moscow was involved in despite Russia’s repeated denials.
Open dialogue with Russia is required
Federica Mogherini, said Tuesday that open dialogue with Russia is required for peace settlement of the crisis in eastern Ukraine.
The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy said the EU should be resolute in assessing Russia’s policy regarding Ukraine. The resolution and dialogue with Moscow will probably make peace settlement more achievable, she said.
Over 4,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled Ukraine’s embattled southeast as a result of clashes between Ukrainian troops and local militias in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions during Kiev’s military operation, conducted since mid-April, to regain control over the breakaway territories, which call themselves the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s republics.