Madrid does not rule out the possibility of applying sanctions against Russia in case it escalates the tensions in Ukraine.
In particular, the EU may temporarily stop issuing visas for Russian citizens. This is what the head of Spain’s MFA Jose Manuel Garsia Margallo said on Wednesday 5 March at a press-conference on the outcomes of negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“Spain is an EU member, we attended the Council of the head of EU foreign ministers, where we spoke about ceasing the preparations for the G8 summit. We agree with our European partners. The EU, in case there is escalation of force, may temporarily stop issuing visas and take certain sancitons measures. Spain approved it in the resolution, and on these issues it, of course, takes obligations”, - Interfax-Ukraine quotes the head of Spanish MFA.
At the same time the Spanish diplomat pointed out that the European Union prefers for the situation in the Crimea to normalize.
“We wish that the situation normalized, so there were no possible escalation of violence, and trust restored between the two parties – Russia and the European Union, so that we could move forward on visa issues, so that we continued discussing negotiations issues that are supposed to be beneficial for all”, - he emphasized.
It was earlier reported that Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel offered Russia’s president in a phone conversation to send “a mission to ascertain the facts” to Ukraine. Vladimir Putin told journalists yesterday that he had tasked the Foreign Minister to work on this issue with foreign partners.
