Madrid says sanctions may be imposed on Russia if tensions continue to escalate in Ukraine but it would prefer normalization.
“Spain is an EU member and we attended the Foreign Affairs Council
meeting, where the termination of preparations for the G8 summit was
announced. We agree with our European partners. If there is an outbreak
of violence, we may temporarily suspend the issue of visas and endorse
certain sanctions. Spain has approved that with a resolution and it
definitely undertakes these commitments,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose
Manuel Garcia-Margallo said at a press conference on Wednesday after
negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
“However, we would like the situation to normalize, escalation of
possible violence to be avoided, trust between the two sides – Russia
and the European Union – to be restored and progress to be made on the
visa issue so that we might continue to discuss subjects of negotiations
to our mutual advantage,” he stressed.
