EU foreign ministers Monday began their formal monthly meeting in Brussels which is expected to be dominated by developments in Ukraine, Libya, Yemen and EU-relations with Africa.
EU High Representative Federica Mogherini made no statements to the pres on arrival.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting , UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said "my message to my colleagues is that we need to remain clear, united in our stand against Russian aggression in Ukraine, we are delighted there are negotiations going on, but until we see Russia complying on the ground, withdrawing troops, closing the borders, stopping the flow of weapons." "The UK is not intending to supply lethal weaponry to Ukraine at this point of time. We understand the US is considering, this is a decision for each individual nation to take. Every nation has a role to play in maintaining the pressure against Russia," he added.
On her part, Margot Wallstrom, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden said "I think that what we will see today is a complete backup of the initiatives from Merkel and Hollande to negotiate and continue the talks with Putin and Russia." "This is the European way to negotiate to find a political solution, not a military one. And the military solution is that Russia should withdraw, they should not send more tanks and soldiers to Eastern Ukraine," she said.
Linas Antanas Linkevicius, foreign minister of Lithuania, said "there's some logic behind the US decision to send arms to Ukraine, the other side has already made up its mind and is sending sophisticated weapons exactly during the time of negotiations." "We should really help Ukraine, not just financially, economically, politically, but also in a military way, not with soldiers, but to support the armed forces with defensive weapons. It is up to each nation to decide, there is no decision to prevent someone from sending weapons, there is no decision to send weapons collectively," he added.