MOSCOW, September 4 (RIA Novosti) - The decision concerning a new set of EU sanctions against Russia depends on the events in Ukraine that will occur within coming hours, French President Francois Hollande said Thursday evening.
“Tomorrow at the European Council … we will announce sanctions and put them into action if there is no progress [on Ukraine], but everything will depend on the coming hours,” Hollande was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that he is ready to order a ceasefire in the southeast of the country at 2 p.m. local time on Friday, September 5. The Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics said they were ready to give the same order.
On Wednesday, the European Commission approved a proposal to further expand sanctions against Russia, but the final decision is yet to be made. The proposal concerns access to capital markets, defense, dual use goods, and sensitive technologies.
Western countries have introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia, accusing it of expanding forces on the border with eastern Ukraine and supplying independence supporters with weapons, thus escalating the crisis, a claim Moscow has denied.
