The European Union provides the bulk of international aid to Ukraine and at the same time bears the brunt of US sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the former Soviet republic, German Ambassador to the United States Emily Haber said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2020) The European Union provides the bulk of international aid to Ukraine and at the same time bears the brunt of US sanctions against Russia over its involvement in the former Soviet republic, German Ambassador to the United States Emily Haber said on Wednesday.
"European support for Ukraine is five times as large as the American support is, and in terms of sanctions against Russian the weight that we are carrying is ten times as large as the Atlantic weight, is ten times as large as the American one," Haber said at an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated in the wake of the conflict in eastern Ukraine and the successful referendum on Crimea's reunification with Russia. The European Union, among other Western entities and countries, has accused the Kremlin of interfering in Ukrainian internal affairs and introduced sanctions against Russia. Moscow, which has denied the meddling claims, retaliated by switching over to an import phase-out and imposing counter-sanctions.
However, some EU countries have recently begun questioning the effectiveness of the sanctions amid financial and economic losses, and started looking for different solutions to problems between Russia and the bloc.
Moscow has opposed linking the Minsk agreements implementation with the sanctions relief, saying that Russia has never been a side to the conflict in Ukraine.
