France warns Russia could face EU sanctions over Ukraine crisis

The European Union will consider sanctions against Russia if there is no deescalation in the Ukraine crisis, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday.

Possible sanctions will be on the agenda when EU leaders meet Thursday, he said via Twitter.

"The invasion of one country into another is contrary to all international laws. We must return to dialogue and to bear in mind that Ukraine should work with Russia and the EU," he said.

"We cannot accept, we members of the international community, a country that invades another."

Russian forces remain in effective control of Ukraine's southern Crimea region, in a tense standoff with Ukrainian forces loyal to the new interim government in Kiev.

Meanwhile, Russian lawmakers are working on a draft law to allow the confiscation of assets belonging to European or U.S. companies if sanctions are imposed, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Wednesday.

Andrei Klishas, a senior lawmaker in the upper parliament house, said the bill "would offer the president and government opportunities to defend our sovereignty from threats," the news agency reported.

It comes after a day of warring words Tuesday, when a defiant Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Russian troops were in Crimea but reserved the right to take military action to protect the safety of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.

He also slammed the interim government, which replaced ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a Russian ally, as illegitimate.

In return, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia of making up reasons for intervention in Ukraine, saying "not a single piece of credible evidence supports any one of these claims."

Diplomatic efforts

As the high-stakes showdown in the Russian-majority Crimea region continues, diplomatic efforts to end the crisis continue apace.

NATO members are set to meet with Russia's ambassador to the alliance, amid concerns that the crisis could spread.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already held talks with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Madrid, Spain, and could meet with Kerry later on Paris on the sidelines of talks on Lebanon.

Speaking in Madrid, Lavrov said stabilization of the situation must be based on a February agreement between ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and opposition groups which called for early elections, constitutional reforms and the disbanding of illegal armed groups.

Meanwhile, Swedish Foriegn Minister Carl Bildt will meet with his Danish and Norwegian counterparts in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, he said on Twitter.

Stability fears

Tuesday's diplomatic efforts bore little fruit. But some observers saw a positive sign in Putin ordering Russian troops who were on mass military exercises close to the border with Ukraine back to their bases.

No violence has yet erupted in Crimea, where Russian troops control military bases and key installations, but tensions are high.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is trying to construct what a senior U.S. administration official characterized as an "off-ramp" for Putin by having international observers in Crimea to ensure ethnic Russians' rights aren't violated.

President Barack Obama floated this idea in a call Saturday with Putin, and he and Merkel talked about it Tuesday.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday that despite repeated calls by the international community, "Russia continues to violate Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and continues to violate its international commitments."

The developments represent serious implications for the security and stability for the Euro-Atlantic area, he said.

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