The Netherlands will support sanctions of the European Union against Russia if the situation around Ukraine escalates, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2022) The Netherlands will support sanctions of the European Union against Russia if the situation around Ukraine escalates, Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said on Wednesday.
Hoekstra and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte arrived in Kiev on Tuesday on an official visit. The ministers are scheduled to meet with the Ukrainian leadership and discuss the situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border.
"Good to meet minister @DmytroKuleba in person. The situation at the border between #Ukraine and #Russia has deteriorated. It is in the interest of all to de-escalate through dialogue. The Netherlands supports substantial EU sanctions if Russia decides to further aggression," Hoekstra wrote in Twitter.
Last week, President of the European Council Charles Michel said that the EU does not want to introduce tough sanctions against Russia, preferring to resolve the situation by diplomatic means, but is ready to make the move in the event of an escalation between Russia and Ukraine.
In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of massing troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for invasion. Russia said that it has no intention of invading Ukraine, while stressing that it has the right to move its forces within its own territory.
Russia has also expressed concerns over NATO's military activity near its borders and the ongoing military support of Ukraine, including an increase in the number of Western instructors in the breakaway Donbas region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow does not exclude that the "hysteria" around Ukraine fueled by the West is aimed at concealing Kiev's plans to sabotage the Minsk Agreements on Donbas.
