West Renews Russia Sanctions Threat as Ukraine Ceasefire Crumbles
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Western powers warned Russia that they could impose new sanctions if Moscow did not do more to defuse the conflict in eastern Ukraine, where a ceasefire between Russian-speaking rebels and government forces appeared to be crumbling.
The upper house of Russia's parliament fulfilled a request by President Vladimir Putin to rescind the right to invade Ukraine in defense of its Russian speakers that it had granted him in March.
However, a leading lawmaker said the power could be quickly restored if required, and Western governments indicated they would judge Russia by the progress that was made to end the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
On Tuesday, less than 24 hours after a bilateral ceasefire was agreed, rebels shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter, killing all nine on board. This prompted Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to tell his troops to return fire if attacked, declaring that he might call off the ceasefire altogether.
A Ukrainian government spokesman said the rebels had violated the ceasefire 44 times since Monday, Reuters reported.
Moscow denies Western accusations that it has allowed fighters to cross into Ukraine along with heavy weapons to confront Ukrainian government forces, and that it is keeping its own troops close to the border to put pressure on Kiev.
But during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters: "I regret to say that we see no signs that Russia is respecting its international commitments."
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington was working with its European Union partners, who hold a summit in Brussels at the end of this week, to prepare a new round of sanctions against Russia in case they are necessary.
Not all EU leaders back the idea, but British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that if Russia did not "stop the flow of arms across the border (and) stop supporting illegally armed separatist groups," the case for tougher sanctions "will of course become stronger."
The United States and EU imposed asset freezes and travel bans on Russian and Ukrainian individuals following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in March. Washington has also targeted a number of Russian firms and banks it says are linked to Putin or his close associates.
US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Wednesday that Russia needed to secure its border, stop the flow of fighters and weapons into Ukraine and call on separatists to lay down arms and release monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.