By DPA,
Paris : French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner Thursday said the member countries of the European Union (EU) were considering imposing sanctions against Russia as a result of its actions in Georgia.
Addressing journalists three days before an emergency EU summit in Brussels, Kouchner said “sanctions were being considered, as well as other means” to address the issue, but he did not specify.
“I, myself, would not anticipate sanctions (being imposed), while the meeting has not yet taken place,” said Kouchner. France currently holds the rotating presidency of the 27-member bloc and has been at the forefront of the EU’s attempts to resolve the crisis.
It was the first time France has brought up the possibility of sanctions against Moscow.
However, a spokeswoman at the French Foreign Ministry told DPA that Kouchner’s statement regarding sanctions referred only to a handful of EU member nations who could raise the possibility at Monday’s summit.
Demands for diplomatic action against Russia have grown louder since Moscow recognised the independence of Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Kouchner said the aim of Monday’s extraordinary summit, the first such crisis meeting since the 2003 Iraq war, would be to “draw up a strong statement reflecting our determination not to accept” the situation in Georgia.