The national flag of the Federal Republic of Germany over the Budestag building in BerlinBERLIN, Jan 31Sanctions against Russia will be imposed only in case of violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, said German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, commenting on whether sanctions can be introduced preventively, in the absence of any conflict between Moscow and Kiev. «The federal government has a very clear position , which says that in case of violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, tough and clear measures will be taken, sanctions are such measures,» Hebeshtreit said at a briefing, answering a question from RIA Novosti whether Western sanctions are tied to the so-called «aggression» against Ukraine or they must be preventive.
Nuland called the introduction of preventive sanctions against Russia senselessKiev and Western states have recently expressed concern about the alleged increase in «aggressive actions» by Russia near the borders of Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly rejected such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone and is not going to attack anyone, and statements about «Russian aggression» are used as an excuse to deploy more NATO military equipment near Russian borders. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, Russia does not create any pretexts for a conflict situation around Ukraine. According to him, Russia does not rule out that the hysteria around Ukraine, hyped by the West, is aimed at covering Kiev's line of sabotaging the Minsk agreements on Donbass. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the information hysteria of the USA and NATO on Ukraine is generously framed by lies and fakes. in case of tough sanctions against Russia
