US urges EU to tighten sanctions on Russia, support Ukraine
(Baonghean.vn) - The US administration urged Europe to "do more" to support Ukraine, including tightening sanctions against Russia.
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| US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert. Photo: AP |
Speaking to reporters, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert stated: "The US plays an important role in supporting Ukraine. Therefore, we want European allies to participate in helping Kiev more", and said that Washington's view is to encourage countries to support each other so that "the US does not have to bear the burden and deal with the problem alone".
Ms. Nauert said that many European countries have applied sanctions against Russia around the Crimea and Ukraine issues, but they have not been implemented thoroughly and strongly.
The NATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting will take place on December 4-5 in Brussels, Belgium, and tensions in the Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraine are expected to be a major topic of discussion.
Spokesperson Heather Nauert once again affirmed that the US administration condemns Russia's actions in the Kerch Strait and expresses support for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. Not only that, the US diplomat also called on countries through which the "Nord Stream 2" gas pipeline passes to abandon the project.
Responding to a press question about what the US would do in the event of an escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ms. Nauert said she would not comment on hypothetical scenarios.
On November 25, the Russian Federal Security Service accused three Ukrainian naval vessels of violating Russian territorial waters in the Black Sea without following procedures, as well as of acting aggressively and moving dangerously close to Russian patrol boats. The Russian coast guard had to use weapons and ramming measures to force the Ukrainian ships to stop, then captured all three and escorted them to the port of Kerch on the Crimean peninsula.
In connection with this incident, the Ukrainian government has ordered martial law for 60 days and declared a state of emergency for 30 days in the provinces of Vinhitsa, Lugansk, Nikolev, Sumy, Odessa, Kharkov, Chernigov, Donetsk, Zaporozhie, Kherson and the Ukrainian territorial waters in the Azov-Kerch Sea. Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) and NATO have called on Russia and Ukraine to ease tensions.