Brussels, March 6 (IANS) Ukraine’s new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk Thursday called on Russia to pull back its forces and fix the deteriorating political situation in Ukraine.
The Russian side is still provoking clashes and tension, Yatsenyuk told a press conference prior to a European Union (EU) summit to be held later Thursday, which will discuss how to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, Xinhua reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, however, reaffirmed Russia’s position Wednesday that an EU-brokered agreement signed Feb 21, which foresaw constitutional reform that would take into account the wishes of all Ukraine regions, should be the basis for stabilising the situation.
Together with Yatsenyuk, EU Parliament President Martin Schulz said that “we must realize that there is a real, dangerous and dramatic situation and tension”.
Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen told the press Thursday that the EU was expected to bring Russia to the negotiation table in a bid to handle the Ukrainian turmoil. He also noted that possible sanctions were ready.
“If the situation gets worse, the EU must be ready to impose targeted measures on Russia to cool down the situation as soon as possible,” he said.
On Wednesday, Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Chairperson Valentina Matvienkoa urged the West not to threaten sanctions against Moscow.
“Threats and language of sanctions towards Russia are absolutely counter-productive. It is impossible to imagine how sanctions could isolate Russia from the global economic process,” she told reporters.