The European Union Has No Plans to Ease Russia Sanctions

Comments Come as Fighting Intensifies Again in Ukraine’s Donetsk Area

The European Union sought Monday to dispel any suggestion that its united front against Russia was faltering or that members were considering lifting sanctions on Moscow in the near future.

Before and After Photos show the results of Pro-Russian 
Scum's attempts in taking over the once Modern Donetsk 
International Airport

Questions about how long the 28-nation bloc can stick together in responding to Russian aggressiveness toward Ukraine were highlighted last week by the emergence of an internal EU paper looking at ways to improve ties with Moscow.

EU members friendlier to Russia have long questioned the effectiveness of sanctions in influencing the Kremlin. Some have suggested the damage to the Russian economy caused by falling oil prices could provide an opening for scaling back the sanctions as part of a new diplomatic outreach.

Left to right: French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, British 
Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and EU foreign policy chief 
Federica Mogherini at the start of the European Union ministerial 
meeting in Monday in Brussels. European Pressphoto Agency

But EU foreign ministers, meeting Monday, stressed they would consider relaxing sanctions only if Russia begins following the terms of a cease-fire and peace plan for Ukraine it signed in September.

“We are staying the course,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said after the meeting. “There is no normalization, there is no back to business-as-usual in any way.”

Violence in eastern Ukraine has increased in recent days, with fighting intensifying in and around Donetsk, a stronghold of the Russia-backed rebels.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.