The FINANCIAL — EU leaders are holding an emergency summit on EU-Russia relations on Monday (1 September) – the first such meeting since the 9/11 attacks in the US. But the union is split on how to handle Moscow, with the Kremlin threatening to retaliate against Europe if it adopts punitive sanctions, EU Observer reports.
According to BBC on the Summit it will be discussed two projects of resolution: hard and soft. The hard which offers Poland and supports the Baltic countries, also Great Britain, foresees financial and economic sanctions against Russia. The soft one offered by Italy supported by Germany means the moral judgment of Russian operation.
Most of European Media presumes on Summit it will be excepted the soft version. Receiving sanctions and fierce relations wont be good for E.U. because they depend on Russian oil and gas.
The Daily Telegraph, reports that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has issued a stark warning that Russia's energy's reserves are more likely to go to the Far East if the EU decides to punish Russia for invading Georgia.
EU politicians have been vocal in their condemnation of Russia's military presence in Georgia and Moscow's recognition of the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the bloc finds itself powerless to make a difference in the conflict. Worse, a number of EU governments openly entertained fears this week that Ukraine could be next on Russia's list, Truth News reports.
Bloomberg announces the E.U. should review its ties with Russia to head off further aggression by the nation, U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on August 31.
Brown said he told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in a phone conversation on August 30 that he should expect a “determined European response.''
According to Telegraph, Brown has said, that his message to Russia is simple: “if you want to be welcome at the top table of organizations such as the G8, OECD and WTO, you must accept that with rights come responsibilities.”
British diplomats also told on August 31 Telegraph newspaper that London will push for mini-sanctions, such as an EU visa ban on South Ossetia and Abkhazia officials as well as Russian citizens active in politics in the two Georgian regions. EU Observer reports.
"Ahead of the summit we can hear some EU members demand that Russia be punished, sanctions imposed against it, and an anti-Russian coalition formed," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said according to Ria Novosti.
"Nevertheless," he went on, "we are counting on common sense to prevail over emotions, and on the EU leaders finding the strength within themselves to refrain from a unilateral assessment of the conflict and come out with an independent, objective estimate of the situation and the reasons behind it."
According to diplomats in Brussels, the EU will on September 1 also offer aid to Georgia and assistance to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as it struggles to send observers to Georgia.
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