MILAN, August 29 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union plans to discuss more sanctions against Russia and is ready to consider a weapons embargo, Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard told reporters Friday.
“Russia has crossed another line, and I cannot see how that could go by without consequences, and without the EU tightening its sanctions once again,” Lidegaard was quoted as saying by Danish news agency Ritzau.
The possible new sanctions are to be discussed during an informal meeting between the European Union’s top diplomats in Milan on Friday. New steps against Russia could be announced at an EU summit on Saturday.
"Last time, we took the step of imposing economic sanctions, and it would be natural to expand the sanctions within the same sectors to create a deeper impact,” the minister said, adding that taking steps against Russia would be a difficult decision, as they could hurt Europe’s economy as well, but that he sees “no other option.”
When asked about the possibility of imposing a weapons embargo, the minister stated that the idea had been discussed before and that European Union is ready to discuss “any measures,” though only economic. Lidegaard rejected the idea of a military intervention, as Ukraine is not part of NATO. “No countries are talking about a military intervention at this point. That would escalate the situation,” the Danish minister said.
As the Ukrainian crisis escalated, the United States and the European Union introduced several new rounds of targeted sanctions against the Russian economy. Moscow has repeatedly referred to the sanctions as counterproductive, noting that Russia is not party to the internal Ukrainian conflict.
