EU Ministers Agree To Stand Firm Against Russia
By RFE/RL
BRUSSELS -- EU foreign ministers have unanimously agreed on “five guiding principles” of the bloc’s policy toward Russia.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini spoke on March 14 after a meeting with the 28 ministers.
First, Russia must fully respect and implement the Minsk cease-fire agreement signed in February 2015, while Brussels will not recognize Moscow's "illegal" annexation of Crimea in March 2014, she said.
Other principles include strengthening EU relations “with our Eastern partners and other neighbors, in particular in Central Asia,” and EU resilience in areas such as energy.
Mogherini said ministers also recognized the need for "selective engagement with Russia on foreign policy issues" such as the Syria conflict and counterterrorism.
The fifth principle is the “willingness to support more and more the Russian civil society,” she added.
Ukraine's President Sees Finance Minister, Lviv Mayor As Potential New Prime Minister
Ukraine’s president sees Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko and Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi as possible candidates to take over as prime minister.
Petro Poroshenko’s spokesman, Svyatoslav Tsegolko, said on Facebook that the president meets on March 14 with party leaders to discuss cabinet changes to accelerate reform while “preserving pro-European policies.”
Tsegolko said one option was appointing Jaresko, a foreign-born former investment manager, at the head of a technocrat government, and another was a government led by the chief of the pro-European Samopomich (Self Help) party.
Meanwhile, Poroshenko’s party reiterated that Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk should resign.
Ukraine is embroiled in its worst political crisis in two years.
Poroshenko’s political coalition has collapsed over efforts to stamp out graft.
But Yatsenyuk refuses to step down after he survived a no-confidence vote last month, triggered by Poroshenko’s party.