President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is convinced that European leaders will decide on the preparation of further sanctions against Russia today.
He said this after a meeting with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels on Saturday, a Ukrinform correspondent reported.
“I have no doubt that today, after our discussion, the European Council will decide to authorize the European Commission to prepare a decision on sanctions. Whether they are implemented will depend on how quickly the progress is demonstrated on de-escalation of the situation,” he said.
He noted that sanctions are introduced not to cause harm to a particular state, but to create incentives for real negotiations on de-escalation in eastern Ukraine.
In turn, the European Commission President said that a decision to impose sanctions is within the competence of member states. However, he expressed confidence that the EU will strengthen sanctions if Russia continues to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.
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