Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense reported at 7 am Kyiv time that in the last 24 hours, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and eighteen Ukrainian soldiers were wounded in action. In the last 24 hours, Russian-terrorist forces opened fire on Ukrainian positions on the Luhansk and Donetsk sectors of the front 84 times in total, including at least 64 times with heavy weapons – artillery, tanks and mortars.
EU prepares sanctions in response to Russian aggression against Ukraine
The European Commission stated, “The decision of the Russian Federation to recognise as independent entities and send Russian troops to certain areas of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts is illegal and unacceptable. It violates international law, Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, Russia's own international commitments and it further escalates the crisis.
Both Presidents welcome the steadfast unity of Member States and their determination to react with robustness and speed to the illegal actions of Russia in close coordination with international partners.
An informal meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers chaired by the High Representative will take place today at 4 pm. Following that, a first package of sanctions will be formally tabled later this afternoon.
Appropriate bodies will then meet to finalise the package without delay.
The package contains proposals:
· to target those who were involved in the illegal decision,
· to target banks that are financing Russian military and other operations in those territories,
· to target the ability of the Russian state and government to access the EU's capital and
financial markets and services, to limit the financing of escalatory and aggressive policies,
· and to target trade from the two breakaway regions to and from the EU, to ensure that
those responsible clearly feel the economic consequences of their illegal and aggressive
actions.
The EU has prepared and stands ready to adopt additional measures at a later stage if needed in the light of further developments.”
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