Tense EU urges Russia to 'show it is serious' and de-escalate
(ATHENS) - "Europe must not relax" and needs to stand firm on the Ukraine crisis until Russia "shows it is serious" by clearly pulling back its troops from the border, Europe's foreign ministers said Friday.
Going into two days of talks, the 28 European Union ministers described the unprecedented crisis unfurling on the bloc's eastern flank as "very dangerous" but appeared to be hoping to see Moscow take steps to defuse the tension.
"It is really important that Russia shows that it is serious about the de-escalation by moving troops back," said the EU's top diplomat Catherine Ashton.
"We'll be watching with great care what's happening there."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on arriving in the sunny springtime Greek capital that Russian troops had made "only a token withdrawal" from the border.
"We have not seen real de-escalation by Russia. Therefore Europe must not relax," Hague added.
The two-day meeting is an informal gathering, a regular six-monthly occasion to take stock of foreign policy issues, with no decisions expected.
It opened a day after Russia, for the second time in three days, heaped pressure on Kiev by scrapping discounts on gas that will cause an 81 percent hike in gas prices for Ukrainians, one of the highest in Europe.
But several ministers agreed on stepping into the talks that while Europe needed to stand firm in its support for Ukraine, this was not the time to step up pressure by agreeing to fresh reprisals that would entail economic sanctions against Moscow.
"At the moment we have some kind of breathing time, the tension does not increase. We have to benefit from this opportunity to stabilise the political situation," said Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Hague too, along with his Dutch colleague Frans Timmermans, said the moment was not for so-called "Phase Three" economic sanctions.
But ministers needed to be ready if necessary "because the situation remains very dangerous, very tense," Hague said.
But ministers insisted the EU must remain unfazed by Moscow's pressure.
"We should stick to our strategy," said Dutch minister Frans Timmermans, including standing by Ukraine and moving ahead with the signature in June of political and trade deals with Georgia and Moldova, which are also likely to irritate President Vladimir Putin.
Speaking to AFP, Lithuania's top diplomat agreed.
Asked whether the EU should think twice about clinching deals with Georgia and Moldova that could trigger further tension, Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevicius said: "No I think vice versa".
"If we do not do what we are supposed to do then that would increase tensions," said Linkevicius, whose country was absorbed for half a century into the Soviet Union.
"Concessions are not perceived as a good gesture. Unfortunately this would be perceived as a weakness."