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Europeans Debate Tougher Sanctions on Russia Europeans Endorse Limited New Sanctions on Russia
(about 5 hours later)
BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers met on Tuesday to endorse a schedule of tougher sanctions against Russia over the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine. But they were unlikely to impose the measures immediately for fear of jeopardizing an independent search of the crash site and possible Russian help in quelling the rebellion in Ukraine, according to officials. BRUSSELS — Under pressure to display resolve and common purpose following the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet over eastern Ukraine, European Union foreign ministers on Tuesday discussed limited new sanctions against Russia. But their action fell short of stronger measures, like an arms embargo, that some member states had called for.
The meeting could further reveal broad differences between the countries’ approaches, with France under pressure to suspend military sales to Russia, Germany anxious to maintain some form of dialogue with President Vladimir V. Putin and Britain pressing for a harder line. From the beginning of the talks on Tuesday, and for weeks before, the ministers had been seen as unlikely to impose tough new measures immediately, for fear of jeopardizing an independent search of the crash site and possible Russian help in quelling rebellion in Ukraine.
The question of French plans to sell two Mistral helicopter carrier warships to Russia — a deal opposed by Britain and the United States — could be a central issue, playing into demands by some Europeans for an arms embargo on Russia. The gathering also played out against divisions between countries like Britain and other nations, notably Germany, eager to preserve some channel of dialogue with Russia to protect economic interests and energy supplies.
Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, and Linas Linkevicius, the Lithuanian foreign minister, called for an embargo on military shipments that would almost certainly include the French deal. “It is time to make our power, influence and resources felt,” Prime Minister David Cameron told the British Parliament on Monday, advocating tougher sanctions against parts of the Russian economy in response to the Kremlin’s support for the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine who have been accused of bringing down the airliner.
“We should have had an arms embargo quite some time ago,” Mr. Bildt told reporters before the meeting, though he admitted that it was unclear whether the European Union would ever agree to take that step. Even so, “to deliver arms to Russia in this situation is somewhat difficult to defend, to put it mildly,” he said.
His remarks echoed comments on Monday by the British prime minister, David Cameron, who said it would be “unthinkable” for Britain to proceed with arms supplies to Russia at this juncture.
President François Hollande of France appeared to brush aside the criticism, saying late on Monday that the first warship covered by the agreement with Russia was almost built and would be delivered as planned in October.
“For the time being, a level of sanctions has not been decided on that would prevent this delivery,” Mr. Hollande said. “The Russians have paid,” he said, and cancellation of the deal would oblige France to reimburse Russia to the tune of 1.1 billion euros, or $1.5 billion.
“Could the rest of the contract be honored?” Mr. Hollande asked, referring to the second warship. “That will depend on Russia’s attitude. I say that very clearly. But at this stage no sanction has been decided that would oblige us to cancel.”
His remarks contrasted sharply with the more hawkish line adopted by Mr. Cameron.
“It is time to make our power, influence and resources felt,” the British leader told Parliament in London on Monday, advocating tougher sanctions against parts of the Russian economy in response to the Kremlin’s support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine who have been accused of bringing down the airliner.
“Russia cannot expect to continue enjoying access to European markets, European capital, European knowledge and technical expertise while she fuels conflict in one of Europe’s neighbors,” Mr. Cameron said.“Russia cannot expect to continue enjoying access to European markets, European capital, European knowledge and technical expertise while she fuels conflict in one of Europe’s neighbors,” Mr. Cameron said.
For his part, Mr. Bildt accused Moscow of sending weapons to the separatists in defiance of earlier calls by the European Union to seal Russia’s border with Ukraine. At Tuesday’s meeting, the foreign ministers agreed to draw up a new and broader list of targets for sanctions, including Russian individuals and entities, said Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign affairs chief.
“What we have been seeing is that they have been, since then, stepping up the delivery of heavy arms,” Mr. Bildt said. Referring to a kind of Russian tank, he said there were “modernized T-64s on the streets of Donetsk,” the separatist stronghold in eastern Ukraine, as recently as Monday. “You don’t buy them at the local grocery store,” he said. The ministers are examining proposals to restrict Russian “access to capital markets, defense, dual-use goods and sensitive technologies including in the energy sector,” Ms. Ashton said. The proposals would be drawn up by the European Commission, the bloc’s policy making body, and would be discussed on Thursday.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the European ministers could agree on threats to impose sanctions on broad swaths of the Russian economy and on Russian oligarchs with only indirect links to the conflict in Ukraine, officials said after a preparatory session on Monday evening in Brussels. But no new additional measures were imposed, reflecting fears among some Europeans that tougher sanctions would invite reprisals by Russia against countries dependent on its energy supplies, harming the Continent’s economic growth.
But the ministers were expected to stop short of recommending that such measures take effect immediately, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the preparatory meeting of ambassadors to the European Union from the bloc’s 28 member states was confidential. Meanwhile, President François Hollande of France said before the ministers’ meeting in Brussels that the first part of a contentious deal to sell two Mistral-class helicopter carrier ships to Russia would go ahead, in part to spare France the need to reimburse Russia for a canceled contract.
Some Europeans fear that tougher sanctions will invite reprisals by Russia against countries dependent on its energy supplies, harming the Continent’s economic growth. Britain and the United States had publicly opposed the deal. Mr. Cameron went so far as to say that a sale of that kind by his country’s muscular arms industry would be “unthinkable.” And the Obama administration made clear again on Tuesday that it wanted stronger support from Europe in imposing “costs” on President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for the Kremlin’s support of the separatists in eastern Ukraine accused in the West of downing the airliner.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministers were expected to agree on “an incremental approach,” according to a European diplomat monitoring the talks. “But it depends on the attitude from the Russians,” said the diplomat, who suggested that the European bloc could rapidly adopt a more forceful posture depending on developments at the crash site. “We should have had an arms embargo quite some time ago,” Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister, told reporters before the meeting. “To deliver arms to Russia in this situation is somewhat difficult to defend, to put it mildly.”
The diplomat said the draft schedule of sanctions could still change during discussions on Tuesday. On Monday evening, Mr. Hollande pre-empted the argument, saying that the first of the two warships covered by the agreement with Russia was almost built and would be delivered as planned in October.
Arriving at the meeting, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany said: “I say we remain open to defusing the situation with all political and diplomatic means but it will be necessary to accompany this willingness with higher pressure, which also means sharper measures.” “For the time being, a level of sanctions has not been decided that would prevent this delivery,” Mr. Hollande said. “The Russians have paid,” he said, and cancellation of the deal would oblige France to reimburse Russia to the tune of 1.1 billion euros, or $1.5 billion.
Mr. Linkevicius, the Lithuanian foreign minister, told reporters on Tuesday morning that concrete penalties against the richest and most powerful Russians would be crucial to the effectiveness of any sanctions. “Could the rest of the contract be honored?” Mr. Hollande asked, referring to the second warship. “That will depend on Russia’s attitude. I say that very clearly. But at this stage no sanction has been decided that would oblige us to cancel.”
“Coming closer to the circle which is the decision-making circle — that’s the point, and that’s the essence,” Mr. Linkevicius said. “We really can do that.” His remarks drew a tart response from President Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania, who compared the deal to the 1930s appeasement of Nazi Germany. She said in a radio interview quoted by Reuters that European indecision was “a direct invitation for the aggressor to be more aggressive and go further.”
Some nations like the Netherlands, whose citizens accounted for almost 200 of the 298 people killed on the Malaysian plane, seemed to have shifted ground as a result of the disaster. The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said attitudes had changed “fundamentally,” while the Dutch foreign minister, Frans Timmermans, said there was “no Dutch blockade of further sanctions. The Netherlands wants the European Union to make a united, and also strong, clear statement against the unrest in eastern Ukraine.”
Arriving at the meeting, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany said, “I say we remain open to defusing the situation with all political and diplomatic means, but it will be necessary to accompany this willingness with higher pressure, which also means sharper measures.”