Russia is directly responsible for the events in the East of Ukraine, said the parliamentary Secretary of Malta’s EU presidency Ian Borg on Tuesday in Strasbourg, speaking at the plenary session of the European Parliament.
The debate about the worsening situation in Eastern Ukraine, he represented the head of the EU diplomacy Federica Mogherini, previously announced in the agenda of the plenary session of the European Parliament.
“Russia must help to find a solution to resolve the crisis. We will continue our calls for Russia to use its considerable influence on the separatists. It is important that the Minsk agreements are fully implemented,” – said the representative of the Maltese presidency of the EU Council.
“We are very concerned about coming to us with information about the presence of Russian arms and military personnel in the area of control of the separatists,” said Borg.
He recalled that recently Mogherini discussed with Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the situation in the East of Ukraine and insisted on the necessity of an immediate ceasefire. She also held consultations with representatives of the new us administration, in particular, on the issue of sanctions against Russia.
“For us, the sanctions – not an end in itself, but a tool. We repeat and repeat again: when the Minsk agreement is fully implemented, the sanctions associated with this question (the East of Ukraine – ed.) will be removed. This equally means that while the agreements are not met, sanctions will remain,” said a Maltese diplomat.
“Ukraine remains a priority for us. The reason for this is the illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilization in Eastern Ukraine, which questioned the very foundations of our international system and the security of our continent,” said Borg.
“It is also a priority, because we must put an end to the suffering of our Ukrainian friends. It is unacceptable that innocent people are dying, caught in a trap in the conflict zone”, – said the representative Mogherini.
He noted that the fighting in the Donbass have cost the lives of many people on both sides, hundreds of civilians were forced to leave their homes. The serious humanitarian situation was further compounded by the very harsh winter conditions. “We must not forget that since the beginning of the conflict killed more than 10 thousand people. Tens of thousands of people were injured. And more than 3.8 million people need humanitarian assistance,” said Borg.
“We need to put pressure on all parties to respect the cease-fire, humanitarian access was allowed in uncontrolled (Ukrainian – ed.) government zone and so that people and goods could move freely on both sides of the dividing line”, said the Rapporteur.
He also noted that the EU fully supports, including financially, the OSCE mission, which impeded on the breakaway territories of Donbass.
The debate on Ukraine were held in an atmosphere of critical attitude of the European deputies.
