{"id":28844,"date":"2016-12-16T22:16:00","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T22:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=28844"},"modified":"2016-12-16T22:16:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T22:16:00","slug":"syria-ukraine-crises-eu-extends-sanctions-on-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=28844","title":{"rendered":"SYRIA, UKRAINE “CRISES EU extends sanctions on Russia”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"index\"Afp, Brussels: European Union leaders piled pressure on Russia on Thursday, urging the Kremlin to protect civilians in Syria while taking steps to save a historic cooperation pact with Ukraine and extending sanctions against Moscow.<\/p>\n

At the final summit of one of the most turbulent years in the EU's six-decade history, the bloc's 28 leaders also discussed preparations for Britain to become the first nation to leave the bloc.<\/p>\n

EU President Donald Tusk said they had agreed to push Syria, Russia and Iran using “all diplomatic means necessary” to open humanitarian corridors under international supervision for civilians in Aleppo.<\/p>\n

But after a meeting in which the leaders heard an emotional plea from the mayor of besieged eastern Aleppo, Tusk acknowledged that the bloc was largely powerless to intervene.<\/p>\n

“We know we are not effective enough. Unfortunately I know who is effective enough, not in humanitarian assistance but in bombing,” Tusk said.<\/p>\n

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the discussion on Syria was “very depressing” and that it showed the EU could not act politically in the way it wanted.<\/p>\n

The summit also discussed the migration crisis triggered largely by the Syrian conflict.<\/p>\n

The EU's impotence on Syria comes against a wider backdrop of how to deal with a resurgent Russia, particularly amid doubts about whether incoming US President Donald Trump may decide to cosy up to Russia's Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n

But it flexed the only muscle it does have, renewing for six months damaging economic sanctions imposed against Russia in 2014 over the conflict in eastern Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the EU leaders reached a deal with the Netherlands to stop the country torpedoing the bloc's crucial association agreement with Ukraine, which Dutch voters rejected in a referendum in April.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Afp, Brussels: European Union leaders piled pressure on Russia on Thursday, urging the Kremlin to protect civilians in Syria while taking steps to save a historic cooperation pact with Ukraine and extending sanctions against Moscow. At the final summit of one of the most turbulent years in the EU’s six-decade history, the bloc’s 28 leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n