Foreign Secretary says EU will impose sanctions on Ukraine
Leaving the Foreign Affairs Council, Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke about the sanctions which the EU is imposing on Ukraine.
On departure from the discussions with other EU Foreign Ministers about the situation in Kyiv, Foreign Secretary William Hague said:
We’ve had a strongly united discussion and decision among the EU foreign ministers today.
There is widespread horror in the European Union as well as in the United Kingdom at the scale of the loss of innocent life and the events of the last 48 hours.
Of course we call on all involved to turn away from violence, but some people are responsible for the violence and so we have decided to introduce targeted measures and targeted sanctions involving visa bans and asset freezes on those individuals who are responsible. The scale of the implementation will depend on developments to come and of course we want to see success in Government and opposition working together in order to bring about a peaceful situation and a peaceful and democratic settlement of the issues in Ukraine. But that is the decision the Council has made today.
In response to questions from journalists the Foreign Secretary made clear that these sanctions will involve “visa bans and asset freezes on those responsible for violence”…. The decision that we have made also involves member states of the European Union making sure that they are not supplying to the Ukraine any equipment that can be used for internal repression.”
On whether these sanctions would influence ministers in Kyiv the Foreign Secretary pointed out that “…It is a strong signal …of how unacceptable this is. It should be unacceptable in any city or country in the world, unacceptable in a European city, a European country… And it’s a signal of the EU’s determination to do something about that.”
Further information
Video: Foreign Secretary William Hague’s interview on outcome of emergency FAC meeting on Ukraine
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