European Union added 12 Russians and Ukrainians on Thursday to a list of people hit with travel bans and asset freezes over developments in Crimea, while Russia and the United States traded sanctions on key individuals.
“Sanctions are not a question of retaliation. They are a foreign policy tool,” said EU President Herman Van Rompuy after a meeting in Brussels of the bloc’s 28 leaders. “Our goal is to stop Russia’s actions against Ukraine.” The 12 new names, due to be published on Friday, include some “really high-ranking” individuals, Van Rompuy said. It will bring to 33 the total number of people on the EU’s sanctions list, which overlaps with US targets, according to French President Francois Hollande.
The EU also took steps towards implementing “economic, trade and financial restrictions regarding Crimea,” said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. This would mean restricting “products from Crimea,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The bloc cancelled a planned June 3 summit with Russia, but stopped short of imposing economic sanctions. Such measures would come if Russia further escalates tension in Ukraine, the leaders warned.
“We are seeing that the shadow of sanctions is already having an effect on Russia’s investment climate,” Van Rompuy said.
There is wariness on both sides of the Atlantic about applying economic sanctions.
Russia and the EU are close trading partners, and many of the bloc’s member countries are highly dependent on Russian oil and gas, while US President Barack Obama warned on Thursday that economic measures “could also be disruptive to the global economy.” The EU leaders called for the rapid deployment of an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission to Ukraine, saying the bloc would otherwise launch its own mission in the coming days.
“We are sending a clear, strong and consistent message,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said.
Earlier on Thursday, US President Barack Obama approved sanctions on key sectors of the Russian economy if Moscow did not change course on Ukraine.
“This is not our preferred outcome,” Obama said, warning however that Russia was positioning its military “in a way that could lead to further incursions into southern and eastern Ukraine.” Russia assured Washington that troops arrayed on Ukraine’s border would not cross it. They “are there to conduct exercises only,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoygu told his US counterpart Chuck Hagel, according to the Pentagon.
The US also imposed sanctions on Thursday targeting Bank Rossiya – singled out as the personal “crony” bank for senior Russian officials – and its largest shareholder, Yuri Kovalchuk.
Washington extended measures to 16 officials, including President Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff, Sergei Ivanov, and aide Andrei Fursenko.
Russia in turn retaliated with measures against nine officials, including Republican Senator John McCain and Speaker of the House John Boehner.
“Let there be no doubt: We will respond appropriately to every hostile attack,” the Russian government said in a statement.
Both McCain and Boehner tweeted that they were “proud” to have been named.
Western powers are also looking to bolster relations with Ukraine and encourage reforms in the economically stricken country. EU leaders on Thursday backed a proposal to grant Ukraine €1.6 billion ($2.2 billion) in loans.
An International Monetary Fund official leading a mission in Kiev said that talks with the interim government had made “significant progress” in setting priorities for economic and governance reforms.
In Moscow, meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed “deep concern” about the situation in Crimea, at a meeting with Putin. Ban will also travel to Kiev for talks with Ukraine’s interim president and prime minister.
Also on Thursday, Russia’s State Duma overwhelmingly passed a treaty incorporating Crimea into the Russian Federation. The legal moves to complete the annexation, which include a vote by the upper house of parliament on Friday, are widely considered as formalities.
The “reunification” of Crimea and Russia is irrevocable, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State John Kerry, according to his ministry, adding that the decision was taken by an absolute majority of Crimean citizens and should be respected.
In Crimea meanwhile, the Moscow-backed leadership released Ukraine’s navy commander, a day after pro-Russia troops stormed Ukraine’s naval headquarters in Sevastopol and took the commander into custody.
Russian soldiers also boarded three Ukrainian warships in Crimea, Ukrainian army spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov said on Thursday.