Lithuania calls for EU sanctions against Kremlin officials

According to the minister, the EU must immediately endorse new individual sanctions against separatists, the Kremlin’s representatives and their supporters – the political, military and economic elite as well as propaganda representatives, Linkevičius was quoted as saying in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday.

The foreign minister also called for “drafting new sectoral restrictions and impose them if the local situation worsens dramatically”.

The security situation in eastern Ukraine has worsened a lot since 2 November when separatists held “elections” in Luhansk and Donets, the Lithuanian minister stressed.

“By sending military equipment and fighters to Ukraine, Russia is creating a new reality – ‘a new Transnistria’ – and is obviously breaching the Minsk peace agreement, therefore, the EU must step up it response. We must set clear de-escalation deadlines for Russia and impose additional EU sanctions, if they are not met,” Linkevičius was quoted as saying in the statement.

Meeting in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign ministers ordered the European External Action Service to draw up by the end of the month an additional list of separatists who would be subjected to individual sanctions. These people would see their accounts frozen and they would be banned from entering the EU.