EU does not want to increase sanctions against Russia

NATO in Green, Russia in Orange (Ukraine is one of the grey countries between NATO and Russia)

The EU would prefer to not increase sanctions against Russia:

March 7, 2015

(Reuters) – EU foreign ministers showed little appetite on Saturday for stepping up pressure on Russia over Ukraine, preferring to give a fragile ceasefire a chance before deciding whether to apply more sanctions or even to extend existing ones.

Most ministers at an EU meeting in the Latvian capital pinned their hopes on the latest Minsk agreement succeeding and said the EU should only consider tightening sanctions if the ceasefire was seriously violated, such as by a separatist offensive on the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

Both Kiev and pro-Russia separatists have accused each other of violence since last month’s peace accord called for heavy weapons to be withdrawn from the frontline in east Ukraine.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni saw “encouraging signals” on the ground in eastern Ukraine.

“At the moment we don’t need either new sanctions or automatic renewals (of sanctions),” he told reporters.

Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz agreed.

“There is a glimpse of hope since Minsk … We should do everything now to improve the situation and decide later whether that improvement really happened and we can reduce the sanctions, or if we have to extend them,” he said. …

A key decision that the EU must face soon is whether to extend economic sanctions against Russia which it adopted for one year last July. Unanimity is required to extend them. …

Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said on Saturday existing sanctions would probably be extended until year-end.

“What matters is that … we maintain unity within the EU, and above all that we continue to put on pressure so that things change on the ground,” he said. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/07/us-ukraine-crisis-eu-idUSKBN0M30GV20150307

Some in the European Union want sanctions, others do not. But notice that EU unity will be a factor on this.

Economically, the EU does not want sanctions. However, there are countries like Poland and the Baltics who feel that a continuing message must be sent to Russia so that, hopefully, it will not decide to get as involved in their countries as it has been in Ukraine.

In the past, “German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that the European Union would be open to talks towards the launch of free trade negotiations with the new Eurasian Economic Union” (see Merkel’s European-Eurasian Trade Zone Proposal). Vladimir Putin does want recognition of his new Eurasian Economic Union, and since he has greater concerns about the USA than the EU, presumably the EU leaders will attempt to persuade him that they are not trying to encircle Russia and that they really want cooperation with Russia in order to help break the hegemony that the USA currently has.

Europe is heavily involved with trying to resolve the situation between Russia and Ukraine. Europe wants Ukraine as part of its European Union, while it also wants to get along with Russia and lift sanctions.

The Bible shows, that for a time, there will be cooperation between Russia and Europe and that the USA will be destroyed (Daniel 11:39). But I should add that the Bible also ultimately shows that Russia will turn against Europe (Daniel 11:44-45; Jeremiah 50:41-43; 51:11; Isaiah 13:1-8) before Jesus returns.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

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Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fufilled? A related video is available titled Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now?
Bible News Prophecy July-Sept. 2014: The Coming Eurasian Union Here is the latest magazine from the Continuing Church of God. The cover of which shows Vladimir Putin and features an article about the coming Eurasian Union.
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