After Mariupol, EU should increase pressure on Russia

Elmar Brok, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament (EP), and Andrej Plenković, Chairman of the EP's Ukraine Delegation, strongly condemned the terror attack on Mariupol and called on the Foreign Affairs Council to increase pressure on Moscow.

Under the Chairmanship of Elmar Brok, the EP's Foreign Affairs Committee held an extraordinary debate on the situation in Ukraine and exchanged views with Ambassador Kostiantyn Yelisieiev and Gunnar Wiegand, Director in EEAS (the European External Action Service).

Brok and Plenković strongly condemned the terror attack by Russian-backed separatists on the strategic city of Mariupol. 30 people were killed, among them children, and around hundred were wounded. They expressed their condolences to the families of the victims and to the Ukrainian authorities.

They also warned of the further destabilisation of Ukraine and highlighted violations of the Minsk ceasefire agreements, calling for immediate de-escalation of hostilities. Plenković suggested that EU Foreign Ministers meeting on Thursday should step-up further restrictive measures, in particular in the financial area, on Moscow, which continues to support the separatists.

Having reiterated its full support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and its European ambitions, Plenković said that the security situation, along with all aspects of the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, will be discussed in detail at the first meeting of the Parliamentary Association Committee (of which he is Chair) at the end of February in Brussels.