| Author (Corporate) | Council of the European Union: General Secretariat |
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| Series Title | Press Release |
| Series Details | 03.03.14 |
| Publication Date | 03/03/2014 |
| Content Type | News |
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Reports of, and external reaction to, the situation in Ukraine covering the 3 and 4 March 2014 after Russia had taken effective control of the Crimea region within Ukraine ostensibly to protect its citizens and interests. EU Foreign Ministers met at a special Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on the 3 March 2014. EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said after the meeting that the 'The ambition is to see the situation improve. If it doesn’t, then the course is set by the Foreign Affairs Council and the European Council (due to meet on the 6 March 2014) will need to consider what it is going to do'. The North Atlantic Council, which includes the ambassadors of all 28 NATO Allies, would meet on 4 March 2014, following a request by Poland under article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty. Henri Malosse, the president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) warned in Brussels during a conference on the 3 March 2014 that an escalation of the situation in Ukraine could threaten the security of EU member states with sizeable Russian minorities such as the Baltic States. NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen showed sympathy for Polish and Baltic states’ fears of Russia’s posture in Ukraine while reassuring these countries on the threat. Much discussion centred on what sanctions the United States and the EU could take against Russia, with suggestions that the two blocs were not united in their approach. The Guardian suggested that while US President Obama threatened to 'isolate Russia', EU foreign ministers were resisting trade sanctions, and favoured mediation involving the OSCE and / or the EU. Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank, told at the European Parliament on the 3 March 2014 that the ECB was monitoring the possible economic effects of the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin told a Security Council meeting on the 3 March 2014 that ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had asked Russia on the 1 March 2014 to send troops across the border to protect civilians in Crimea and other regions of Ukraine. Russia said that an agreement made by Russia, the EU and Ukraine in February 2014 that would have kept President Yanukovych until new Presidential elections in December 2014 should be reactivated. On the 4 March 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin told military units exercising near Ukraine's border to return to their permanent garrisons after the scheduled end of that exercise. Mr. Putin also described the crisis as the result of an “unconstitutional coup” during a press conference, while stating that there was no need to send Russian troops to Ukraine yet. EurActiv reported that the European Union governments had reached a preliminary agreement on the 4 March 2014 to freeze the assets of 18 Ukrainians, at Kyiv’s request, after Ukraine's new rulers said billions in public funds had gone missing. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/141291.pdf |
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| Countries / Regions | Europe, Russia, Ukraine |
