Foreign Affairs Council

David Lidington Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2014 Written Statements

[The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington)]

I attended the extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council called to discuss Ukraine on 3 March in Brussels, chaired by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Baroness Ashton of Upholland. Commissioners Füle (enlargement) was also in attendance.

A provisional report of the meeting and conclusions adopted can be found at: http://www.consilium.europa. eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/141294.pdf

Ukraine

Ministers condemned Russia’s acts of aggression in Ukraine, stating that Russian actions were unacceptable. I underlined the need for concrete actions, to ensure EU credibility and deter further aggression, as well as indicating potential further actions if Russia did not de-escalate.

The Council agreed conclusions condemning Russia’s acts of aggression against Ukraine and stating that, in the absence of quick Russian de-escalation, there would be consequences for EU-Russia relations. Ministers reaffirmed their support for Ukraine, and agreed to work swiftly on the adoption of restrictive measures for the freezing and recovery of assets of persons identified as responsible for the misappropriation of state funds, and the freezing of assets of persons responsible for human rights violations.

An emergency European Council will discuss the situation in Ukraine on Thursday 6 March.