Foreign Affairs Council, 15/08/2014, 15 August 2014

EU urges Russia to stop border hostilities

Meeting in Brussels on 15 August, EU foreign affairs ministers urged Russia to withdraw its forces from the border with Ukraine and to stop hostilities.

Following the dispatch of a Russian convoy to Ukraine, EU ministers warned Russia against using any pretext, including humanitarian, for military intervention in the country. They stressed that any aid must be delivered with due regard for the humanitarian principles of independence, neutrality and impartiality and in agreement with the Ukrainian authorities.  

They also urged Russia to stop border hostilities, withdraw its forces from the border with Ukraine and halt the flow of arms, military advisers and armed personnel into the conflict region. They said that this was necessary to de-escalate the conflict and improve the situation of the civilian population. 

The Council asked Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the OSCE to join the EU in seeking a political, sustainable solution to the crisis.

Concerned by the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, EU ministers called for cooperation in allowing and facilitating the provision of humanitarian relief to civilians in need and enabling people to move out of the conflict zone to safer areas. 

Ministers said that the EU would assess the impact of measures recently announced by Russia against imports of agri-food products from the EU. An extraordinary meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council has been convened for early September to assess that impact and the appropriate response.

The Council stressed that other countries should not take advantage of the Russian embargo against European producers, adding that this was necessary to ensure the unity of the international community and to uphold international law.     

The Russian ban was decreed in response to earlier EU restrictive measures, which had been directly linked to the violation of international law by the illegal annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of Ukraine by Russia. The Council said that the grounds for imposing those EU measures remained valid. 

Ministers added that the EU was closely following the situation on the ground and was ready to consider further steps.