BRUSSELS, Jan 31 The scope of EU sanctions against Russia «in the event of an escalation of the situation around Ukraine «will depend on Moscow's actions,» EU Foreign Service spokesman Peter Stano said at a briefing in Brussels. «, he said.
14:03 Germany ruled out the imposition of preventive sanctions against RussiaAccording to him, «despite the preparation of restrictive measures, the EU is focused on diplomacy in order to achieve a de-escalation from Russia, to start a serious dialogue.» Kiev and Western states have recently expressed concern over the alleged strengthening of «aggressive actions» by Russia near the borders of Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied such accusations, saying that it does not threaten anyone and does not intend to attack anyone, and claims of «Russian aggression» are used as an excuse to place more NATO military equipment near Russian borders. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted earlier that Western statements about «Russian aggression» and the possibility of helping Kiev defend itself against it are both ridiculous and dangerous. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is moving troops within its territory and at its own discretion. According to him, this does not threaten anyone and should not worry anyone. 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, the information hysteria of the US and NATO on Ukraine is generously framed by lies and fakes. Russian energy companies
