EU leaders ask EC to explore economic sanctions against Russia

Brussels (Platts)--21Mar2014/629 am EDT/1029 GMT

EU leaders have given the European Commission and national governments "an explicit mandate" to prepare possible targeted economic measures against Russia for its actions in Crimea, EU President Herman van Rompuy said early Friday.

But they stopped short of calling for specific economic sanctions, such as an arms embargo.

The leaders agreed to increase diplomatic and financial sanctions, including adding 12 names to the list of 21 Russians and Ukrainians already subject to asset freezes and travel bans, and canceling political meetings involving Russia.

"We are...cancelling the next EU-Russia Summit and member states will likewise cancel regular bilateral summits," van Rompuy told reporters in Brussels after the first session of the EU summit.

Leaders also supported suspending talks on Russia joining the OECD and IEA, he said.

"Failure to settle the crisis peacefully, and any steps by Russia to destabilize Ukraine, will have far-reaching consequences," van Rompuy said.

"And by that we mean consequences on relations in a broad range of economic areas. We ask the commission and the member states to prepare possible targeted measures," he said.

Van Rompuy would not say what would trigger formal measures.

"We will assess each incident and new action separately...it's up to us to decide when we trigger all this," he said.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters that the EC had already been exploring a broad range of possible measures against Russia as a contingency.

"We cannot decide exactly on the concrete measures at this moment -- it depends on the situation," Barroso said.

"Member states have given us a very strong mandate to come with these possible targeted measures and I believe this is a message that should be taken seriously," he said.

Van Rompuy said that the "the shadow of sanctions is already having an effect on Russia's investment climate."

--Siobhan Hall, siobhan.hall@platts.com
--Edited by James Leech, james.leech@platts.com

http://www.platts.com/latest-news/natural-gas/brussels/eu-leaders-ask-ec-to-explore-economic-sanctions-26757598