Russia accuses European parliament of gunning for war

The head of the Russian
Federation Council committee on international affairs, Konstantin Kosachev,
denounced the resolution as “especially militant.”

“The European
parliamentarians discourage those who are trying to look for dialogue with
Russia, not confrontation,” he said.

The European
parliament condemned Russia’s “aggressive and expansionist policy, which
constitutes a threat to the unity and independence of Ukraine and poses a
potential threat to the EU itself.”

In its resolution,
parliament urged the European Council to keep in place tough sanctions against
Russia and even proposed broadening them into the nuclear and international
financial sectors if Putin’s government continues to destabilize Ukraine.

The resolution went on to state that “there are now no objections or legal restrictions to prevent Member States from providing defensive arms to Ukraine” and that “the EU should explore ways to support the Ukrainian government in enhancing its defence capabilities and the protection of
Ukraine’s external borders.”

Aleksey Pushkov, the
head of the foreign affairs Committee of the Russian Duma, called the resolution
“banal and dangerous.”

“By calling to maintain
and even enhance sanctions against Russia the European Parliament is supporting
tension in Europe,” Pushkov added.

The European
Parliament resolved to support the EU’s existing policy of refusing to recognize
Russia’s annexation of Crimea and welcomed recently adopted additional sanctions
on investment, services and trade relating to Crimea and Sevastopol.

It also highlighted
Russia’s “information war” in Europe and called on the EU officials to develop
a plan to counter Russian propaganda with their own Russian language programming.

Yet Ukraine was also
disappointed with the resolution, which fell short of describing the
Russian-backed separatists as terrorists.

President Petro
Poroshenko had claimed on Jan. 13 that the European Parliament was preparing to
call on the leaders of European Union to place the self-proclaimed Donetsk
People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic on their list of terrorist
organizations.

But European MPs
instead condemned “acts of terrorism and criminal behavior of the separatists
and other irregular forces in eastern Ukraine,” adding that “according to
credible sources, Russia continues to support the separatist militias through a
steady flow of military equipment, mercenaries and regular Russian units, including
main battle tanks, sophisticated anti-aircraft systems and artillery.”

The Russian war — using proxies and, when needed, Russian regular army troops — in eastern Ukraine has already taken more than 4,700 lives, according to United Nations estimates. On Dec. 18, U.S. President Barack Obama signed a law allowing
for economic and military support to Ukraine, but the current American policy remains not to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons.  

Kyiv Post staff writer
Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at grytsenko@kyivpost.com