Tuesday 29 July 2014 16.24 European Union governments have reached a deal to impose further economic sanctions against Russia.
The sanctions will target Russia's oil industry, defence, dual-use goods and sensitive technologies, diplomats said.
The sanctions are to be reviewed after three months.
The new measures go beyond the asset freezes and visa bans used until now, instead imposing restrictions to increase the cost to Russia of its continued intervention and support of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
Russia has accused Ukrainian forces of firing across the border from eastern Ukraine into Russian territory using assault rifles and grenade launchers.
In a statement the Russian foreign ministry said: "We officially demand Kiev stop firing at the sovereign territory of the Russian Federation".
The Ukrainian government has denied firing into Russian territory.
Meanwhile, 17 people, including three children, were killed in the past 24 hours by shelling in Ukraine's rebel-held stronghold of Gorlivka, local Ukrainian officials said.
They said 43 people were also wounded in the city, which was observing three days of mourning for 13 civilians, including two children, killed on Sunday by Grad rockets.
Several homes were hit by artillery fire in the town located 45km north of Donetsk, the officials said.
The top storey of a school was destroyed and several units in a local hospital were also damaged, they said.
The United Nations has criticised the use of heavy weapons by both pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian forces in inhabited areas, and in a report released yesterday said more than 1,100 had been killed by fighting since mid-April.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry have agreed in a phone conversation that fighting near the MH17 crash site needs to be stopped, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to ask Ukrainian forces to stop fighting around the crash site, a government spokesman said.
"The prime minister this morning called the Ukrainian president with a request to halt hostilities around the crash site," Jean Fransman said.
Fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia separatists has prevented international investigators reaching the site for a third day.
Mr Poroshenko told Mr Rutte he would do everything possible to allow investigators access, Mr Fransman said.
"Rutte expressed his concern about the fact it appeared the investigators may today yet again not reach the site," Mr Fransman said.
"This is important because we want to get to the crash site as quickly as possible to get the victims and bring them home.
"Mr Poroshenko said that he will do everything possible to make access possible."
The Ukrainian military confirmed early this morning that violence was still raging.
"Pockets of insurgents are continuing to fire on Ukrainian positions from the towns of Snizhne, Torez and Shakhtarsk," it said, referring to towns within about 30km of the site.
The fresh conflict came a day after rebels admitted the Ukrainian government had regained control over part of the vast site, where the remains of some of the 298 victims from the MH17 crash still lie 12 days after the disaster.
Ukraine would not confirm the rebels' claim, saying only that its troops had entered a string of towns around the scene.
A Dutch and Australian police mission needs access to the site to recover victim remains and personal effects.
More than 200 bodies have already been recovered and sent to the Netherlands for identification.
The Netherlands and Australia were home to most of the people on the flight, which the West alleges was brought down by separatists.
Earlier, the head of the Dutch recovery mission vowed no remains of the crash victims would be left behind.
Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg voiced frustration that international investigators had been blocked from reaching the site of the crash.
"It is frustrating to have to wait to do the job they came to do.
"Their motivation comes from the deep conviction that the relatives in all the different countries are entitled to have their loved ones and their personal effects returned to them," he said at a news conference in Kiev.
"If the experts find remains, they will be recovered immediately. We will be using a refrigerator train wagon near Torez.
"If the train is inaccessible for whatever reason, we will arrange other transport. We will not leave any remains behind."
Air chiefs to discuss war zone risk
The risk to passenger planes flying over war zones following the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 will be discussed at a special meeting of world aviation chiefs today.
The need for clarification on safe routes was emphasised yesterday when some airlines were shown to be flying over war-torn areas that other carriers were avoiding.
Dubai-based Emirates announced it would not be flying over Iraq but then later an Emirates flight from Beirut was tracked passing over Iraq but having taken the "long way" round due to a desire to not fly over Syria.
An Emirates spokeswoman said: "We are taking precautionary measures and are currently working on alternative routing plans for flights using Iraqi airspace.
"We are closely monitoring the situation along with international agencies, and will never compromise the safety of our customers and crew."
British Airways, one of a number of carriers who use Iraq airspace, is carrying on flying over the Middle East country, while plane-tracking websites showed other airlines also passing over Iraq.
BA said: "Our flight plans vary depending on a variety of factors, but our highest and first priority is always the safety of our crew and customers.
"We would never fly in airspace unless we were satisfied that it was safe to do so."
Described as a "high-level" event, today's meeting is at the Montreal headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
ICAO council president Dr Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu and the organisation's secretary general Raymond Benjamin are due to attend as is Tony Tyler, the International Air Transport Association chief executive.
Also at Montreal will be representatives of the Airports Council International and the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation.
ICAO said: "This meeting will discuss the appropriate actions to be pursued in order to more effectively mitigate potential risks to civil aviation arising from conflict zones."
Last week, some US and European airlines imposed a temporary suspension of flights to Israel after a rocket landed close to Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.
After the Malaysia Airlines tragedy, Mr Tyler said it was vital that governments took the lead in reviewing how airspace risk assessments were made.
At the weekend, Malaysia Airlines commercial director Hugh Dunleavy said: "For too long, airlines have been shouldering the responsibility for making decisions about what constitutes a safe flight path, over areas in political turmoil around the world.
"We are not intelligence agencies but airlines, charged with carrying passengers in comfort between destinations.
"Against the backdrop of increasingly volatile political situations around the world, such as Ukraine and Gaza, we as an industry must act now to create a system of approval that guarantees safe air passage for all commercial airlines."
The Dutch Safety Board, which is in overall charge of the investigation into the MH17 crash, said its probe would include "an investigation into the decision-making process regarding flight paths and the risk assessment that was conducted when choosing to fly over eastern Ukraine".
It went on: "The board will not only look at past events but will also review the system in general in order to learn valuable lessons for the future."
The DSB said it was also investigating "why the full (passenger) list was not available for flight MH17 immediately" and would also look at the organisation of and compilation of passenger lists in general "in order to provide lessons for the future".
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
EU governments agree deal on Russian sanctions
Dengan url
http://newsdeadlineup.blogspot.com/2014/07/eu-governments-agree-deal-on-russian.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
EU governments agree deal on Russian sanctions
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
EU governments agree deal on Russian sanctions
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar