Individual EU-member states don't have the same opinion on introducing sanctions against Russia for the presence of its troops on Ukrainian territory, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák said during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
"Russia has committed an act of aggression against Ukraine, it has clearly violated its sovereignty and territorial integrity, it violates international law and its own commitments from bilateral agreements, especially the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. Measures need to be adopted - suspending the political dialogue and Russia's membership of G8. These are measures that have real force. Russia must be sent to the penalty box and expelled from the group of law-abiding countries", he said. The EU in its final stance on the matter on Monday demanded that Russia immediately withdraws its troops from Crimea and begins to communicate with Ukraine in line with existing agreements.
