(VOVworld)-Russia accused the European Union on Friday of taking an “extremely unconstructive stance” on the Ukrainian political crisis by freezing negotiations with Russia on new cooperation agreement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday in a statement that Russia does not accept the sanctions and threats, but if they are imposed, Russia will retaliate. This statement was released after an EU extraordinary meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the situation in Ukraine and to announce a number of sanctions against Russia.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon’s spokesman Martin Nesirky said that United Nation said on Friday that the UN chief was urging the authorities in Ukraine, and Crimea, to treat this matter with calm, referring to the March 16 referendum on whether to renounce ties with Kiev and switch to Kremlin rule. Nesirky, however, did not state if the United Nations would consider such a referendum to be illegal under international law or the Ukrainian constitution, as has been said by the United States and its allies.