Britain says EU can prepare new sanctions on Russia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Britain's foreign minister said on Friday, March 6, the European Union would prepare possible new sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine conflict that could be imposed quickly if the Minsk ceasefire agreement is broken, Reuters reports.

"The European Union will remain united on the question of sanctions, sanctions must remain in place until there is full compliance (with the Minsk agreement)," Philip Hammond said.

"We will prepare possible new sanctions, which could be imposed quickly if there is further Russian aggression or if the Minsk agreement is not complied with," he said.

Hammond also said Britain does not have immediate plans to supply Kiev with weapons, but it is "not ruling anything out for the future" as the situation in east Ukraine remains "dynamic".

At a joint conference with his British counterpart in Warsaw, Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna said new sanctions could be imposed if, for example, separatists attack Ukraine's port city of Mariupol, but a move such as excluding Russia from the SWIFT payments system was an extreme option.

"(Exclusion) from SWIFT is the 'nuclear' option, this is an extreme option and there is a long list of sanctions that may be used before that," he said. "Also, the truth is that it is a 'double-edged sword'."