EU ministers urged Russia on Friday to put an "immediate stop" to all forms of hostilities near the Ukrainian border after reports that a Russian armored convoy had entered conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.
EU ministers urged Russia on Friday to put an "immediate stop" to all forms of hostilities near the Ukrainian border after reports that a Russian armored convoy had entered conflict-torn eastern Ukraine.
In a statement at the end of a meeting primarily on the crisis in Iraq, the ministers said Russia must "put an immediate stop to any form of border hostilities, in particular to the flow of arms, military advisers and armed personnel into the conflict region, and to withdraw its forces from the border."
While arriving for talks focused mainly on the unfurling crisis in Iraq, ministers expressed deep concern at the reported Russian incursion and threatened a vigorous response if Moscow failed to reverse course.
"I am very alarmed by the report," said British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond as Britain summoned Moscow's ambassador to London over the latest events.
"If there are any Russian military personnel or vehicles in Ukraine they need to be withdrawn immediately or the consequences will be very serious," Hammond said.
Ukrainian authorities confirmed British media reports that a small number of Russian armored vehicles had crossed into Ukraine, not far from where an aid convoy from Moscow was trying to reach pro-Kremlin separatists.
Later, the office of Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko said Ukrainian artillery destroyed Russian military vehicles that had crossed into eastern Ukraine late Thursday.
"We are deeply concerned by Russian behavior over the last months but also the last hours," said Danish Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard, before the reports of the clashes.
"We think that the Russian authorities should be aware that both in the EU and the US we have a very strong commitment to respond to any new aggression from Russia," he added.
The incursion was a "gross violation of international law," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, adding that the situation in eastern Ukraine was "disastrous".
