EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep BorrellBRUSSELS, Mar 4 Head of Diplomacy EU Josep Borrell said that the EU is «exploring all measures» against Russia, including giving up Russian energy resources. On Friday, a meeting of NATO foreign ministers will be held in Brussels, followed by a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Gas blockade. Is an energy war between Russia and the European Union possible» We are considering all measures, as I said, everything is being considered. Some measures that no one expected were nevertheless taken … We have already adopted unprecedented financial, political and economic sanctions, which will cause severe damage to the Russian economy. We support Ukraine's right to defense,» he said, answering a journalist's question about the supply of Russian energy resources, before a meeting at NATO headquarters. «It is important for me to maintain the unity of the EU member states on the issue of sanctions , they will cause severe damage to the economy, especially the sanctions on the Central Bank,» Borrell added. He also stated the need to «preserve unity on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine.» Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine early Thursday morning, February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, nothing threatens the civilian population. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But there is no question of the occupation of Ukraine, the Russian President emphasized.Borrell supported the idea of convening the UN Security Council because of the situation around the ZAESA; in response, Western countries have imposed another anti-Russian sanctions since 2014. As the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said earlier, the Western sanctions are very serious, Russia was preparing for them in advance. He added that they require analysis and coordination of departments in order to develop response measures that are in the interests of the Russian Federation. Western companies that refuse to work with Russia did so under enormous pressure, but Russia will solve all the problems with the economy that the West creates for it, said Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. As Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, Russia tried to prevent the current development of events around Ukraine, but the West preferred not to notice this and now forgets about its responsibility, but cannot pretend that it is not involved in what is happening. In addition, according to her, Kyiv's pumping of weapons reflects the policy of the West in the style of «all means are good.» And according to Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Ryabkov, the West's responsibility for the events around Ukraine should be collective.
Gas pumping through Yamal-Europe has been suspended
