EU warns Russia of more sanctions if Ukraine threatened

Russia will be hit with more and tougher EU sanctions if it militarily threatens Ukraine, the bloc’s chief Ursula von der Leyen warns.

“The European Union will respond appropriately to any further aggression including breaches of international law and any other malicious actions taken against us or our neighbors, including Ukraine,” she says in a videolink speech to EU ambassadors.

“This response will take the form of robust scaling-up and expansion of existing sanctions regimes. And on top of that, we are ready to take additional restrictive measures,” she says.

Von der Leyen emphasizes the European Union’s “full and unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of this aggression” represented by what she calls a “massive” Russian military buildup along Ukraine’s border.