Daily Times

The EU said Monday it is urgently discussing a new round of sanctions on Russia as it condemned “atrocities” reported in Ukrainian towns that have been occupied by Moscow’s troops. The European Union “will advance, as a matter of urgency, work on further sanctions against Russia,” foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement on behalf of the bloc. “We stand in full solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in these sombre hours for the whole world,” he said. But Germany warned that cutting off the supply of Russian gas was not yet possible as a punishment, despite calls in several EU countries that the measure was necessary to face down Russia. “We have to cut all economic relationship to Russia, but at the moment, it’s not possible to cut the gas supplies. We need some time,” German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said as he arrived for talks with his eurozone counterparts in Luxembourg. “We have to differentiate between oil, coal and gas,” he added, though he refused to speculate on what measures would be put on the table. One EU official told AFP that a new sanctions package on Russia would be discussed this week. EU foreign ministers could then look it over, either on the sidelines of a NATO meeting happening Wednesday and Thursday, or at their regular meeting early next week.