The European Commission and the EU's member states differ in their perceptions of the impact of Russia's embargo on European foodstuffs, Slovak Agriculture and Food Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek said during a session of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on Monday. While the EU's executive branch views the effect of the embargo as not too significant, EU member states tend to view the impact as negative, he said. "New solutions are being sought. We made our stance clear today while saying that we need to come to grips with the concept of 'crisis', which occurs whenever the prices of commodities on the market - particularly those of pork, milk and dairy products, and fruits and vegetables - fall under 30 percent," said the minister. Should such a scenario materialise, i.e. that the prices indeed slump under 30 percent of the usual price, the Council and the Commission should determine minimum purchasing prices for a number of commodities that should be on a par with production costs. This is designed to protect producers in the EU, he said, making a mention of Slovak producers who, he said, are already feeling the impact of the Russian embargo.
On Tuesday, heads of the European Union asked foreign ministers to consider responding adequately to the resumed fighting in Eastern Ukraine, including possible new sanctions directed towards Russia. Ministers of individual EU member states are to discuss the situation at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday. "We are concerned by the worsening security and humanitarian situation in Eastern Ukraine. We are calling out to Russia to condemn the steps of the separatists and enforce the measures from the Minsk agreement," stated representatives of the EU in a joint statement.
On Monday evening Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the crisis with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. According to information of the Kremlin, Putin accused the Ukrainian leadership of attempts to solve the situation by force, while he claims that resolving the crisis via political dialogue is "extremely important".
