EU warns of new sanctions against Russia over Crimea

By Serife Cetin

BRUSSELS (AA) - The European Union may impose new sanctions against Russia over Crimea, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said Monday as March will mark the fifth anniversary of the annexation of the peninsula by the Russian Federation.

"There can be decisions by unanimity on new sanctions coming up in the next couple of weeks related to the latest developments," Federica Mogherini said in response to a question over possible new sanctions against Moscow.

Her remarks came ahead of EU’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.

Noting that the EU has been imposing sanctions against Russia over past five years, Mogherini said that the bloc also "constantly renewed" the sanctions "in view of the fact that we have not seen the implementation of the Minsk agreements and we have not seen developments going well".

Eastern Ukraine has been wracked by conflict since March 2014 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Conflicting parties signed the Minsk cease-fire agreement in February 2015 with the mediation of France and Germany, but the fighting continued, claiming more than 10,000 lives, according to the UN.

"The objective of sanctions is that one day they would be lifted, but we do not see positive steps and this is why the [EU] Member States have so far always reiterated their will to keep them," she added.

The UN General Assembly has voted to proclaim the Russian annexation illegal.

Along with many UN countries, the U.S., the EU, and Turkey do not recognize Crimea as Russian territory.