Press Release: Foreign Affairs Council, Brussels, 17 March 2014

Main results of the Council:

Ukraine

The Council focused on the situation in Ukraine. It strongly condemned the holding on 16 March of an illegal "referendum" in Crimea on joining the Russian Federation, in clear breach of the Ukrainian Constitution. The EU does not recognise the illegal “referendum” and its outcome.

Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said: "We want to underline very clearly that there is still time to avoid a negative spiral and to reverse current developments. We call on the Russian leadership not to take steps to annex Crimea and instead to take steps to deescalate this crisis." The European Union remains ready to support facilitating
dialogue between Ukraine and Russia.

In the absence of positive steps and in line with the statement of the EU Heads of State or Government of 6 March, the Council decided to impose travel restrictions and an asset freeze against 21 persons responsible for actions which undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.

In addition, the Council approved the modalities for signing the political provisions of the Association Agreement on 21 March in Brussels. "This is a strong signal of our political support,"the High Representative said. The Council also confirmed the EU's commitment to proceed to the signature and conclusions of the remaining parts of the Agreement which together with the political
provisions constitute a single instrument.

EU strategy on the Gulf of Guinea

The Council adopted an EU strategy on the Gulf of Guinea, to support the efforts of the region and its coastal states to address the many challenges of maritime insecurity and organised crime.

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