Greece blocked the adoption of a common resolution on Russia at the level of thepermanentrepresentatives to EU preparing the resolution for this afternoon's extraordinary meeting of Foreign Ministers.
A compromise is now to be found at the level of the 28 foreign ministersgatheredin Brussels for anextraordinary meeting on new sanctions against Russia.
Sources close to the negotiations told New Europe that the Greek representative blocked some clauses in the final statement. Nevertheless, other sources insist this could also be only a technical glitch, dueto a lack o coordination between the Greek envoy to the EU and his new superior, the foreignministerNikos Kotzias. Since Kotzias was on the plane to Brussels at the time of the permanent representatives'meeting, the Greek ambassador preferred to wait for his arrival.
The draft statement presented to the foreign ministers today proposes toextend sanctions againstRussiaby six months, and adds new people to the sanctions list.
"In view of the worsening situation, the Council (of foreign ministers) agrees to extend the restrictive measures targeting persons and entities for threatening or undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity ... until September 2015,”say the conclusions.
The statement is referring to asset freezes and travel bans put on dozens of Ukrainians and Russians since Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula last March.
The draft statementdiscussed today notes evidence of continued and growing support given to the separatists byRussia, saying it underlined Russia's responsibility for the conflict that has already killed more than 5,000 people.
Greek opposition is almost certain to limit the sanctionsto blacklisting more names of individuals from Russia and Ukraine.
A decision on further economic sanctions onRussiais likely to be left to EU leaders who next meet in Brussels on 12 February.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/greece-blocks-adoption-common-resolution-russia