US/NATO War on Russia

[David Guyatt]

The following, although highly significant and important, is not well reported so far as I could see. Typical.

The report does not name the countries who declined to implement the economic sanctions. They were Germany, Italy and Finland. Might one conclude that European governments got a preview of the report of the investigation of what brought down the airliner and saw, clearly, that it wasn't a missile, but a fighter, that was responsible and have responded accordingly?

EU calls new meeting over Russia sanctions split

08 September 2014, 18:41 CET
filed under: Ukraine, oil, Russia, sanctions

(BRUSSELS) - EU officials called a fresh meeting on Monday to discuss a new round of sanctions against Moscow after failing to reach unanimous agreement on the measures, diplomatic sources said.
European capitals were supposed to give formal approval on Monday to the sanctions, which include limiting access to financial markets by Russian oil giants, but had failed to do so, the sources said.
The delay comes as some of the EU's newer member states in eastern Europe -- still dependent on Russian trade and energy ties -- were uneasy at ratcheting up the sanctions, and as a tenuous Ukraine ceasefire appeared to he holding.
"There will be an extraordinary meeting of the (member state) ambassadors on the sanctions at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT)," an EU diplomat told AFP, after talks apparently did not produce the required unanimous support of all 28 nations.
The new meeting of the ambassadors will "discuss the modalities of implementation of the Russia sanctions", said the diplomat, who asked not to be named.
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko meanwhile said there was no military solution to the conflict and announced that pro-Russian rebels backed by Moscow had released some 1,200 prisoners.
When EU officials agreed the new sanctions package Friday, EU heads Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso had left open the possibility they could be lifted quickly if the ceasefire held, setting the stage for further peace efforts.
Diplomatic sources said the differences apparently revolved around this point, with some member states seeking to incorporate language in the sanctions text that would keep options open for lifting the sanctions.
"We are looking for a formula which takes developments on the ground into account," a European source said.
- Sanctions on oil giants -
European leaders ordered Brussels officials at a summit on August 30 to draw up new sanctions within a week in response to claims that Russian troops were backing rebels in eastern Ukraine.
The new EU sanctions agreed by officials Friday would limit access to financial markets by Russian oil companies such as Rosneft and Transneft plus the petroleum unit of gas giant Gazprom, diplomatic sources said Monday.
The new sanctions build on those agreed at the end of July when EU leaders, stung into action by the shooting down over Ukraine of a Malaysia Airlines plane, decided to target whole economic sectors on top of travel bans and asset freezes against individuals.
Crucially, the July sanctions meant Russian entities would no longer be able to raise fresh funds on EU financial markets with a maturity of more than 90 days.
It is widely expected this could now be cut to as little as 30 days in the new measures, tightening the screws on state-owned Russian banks at a time when the economy is already struggling.
That could force the Russian government "to put its hand in its pocket", to make up the funding shortfall, another diplomatic source said.
The EU ambassadors were originally expected to formally approve the sanctions package Monday at 1300 GMT after instructions from their governments, but that deadline was put back to 1600 GMT, and then the new meeting was called.
The negotiations over the sanctions have already taken more than a week, with the Czech Republic and Slovakia having openly lobbied Brussels to soften the new measures.
The new measures target more people linked to the rebel leadership in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, the government of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in March, and Russian "decision-makers and oligarchs", Van Rompuy and Barroso said on Friday.
They cover the same four areas as the previous set in July -- capital markets, defence, dual-use goods with both military and civilian capabilities, and oil technology, they added.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned Moscow could retaliate against any new sanctions, including blocking western commercial flights through its airspace.

From EU Business.