The EU should prolong and expand sanctions against Russia to force Moscow to change its “aggressive” policy, Crimean Tatar leader Refat Chubarov has said.
“Since its occupation of Crimea two years ago, Russia has intensified its activities to squeeze the Crimean people, to break them into pieces,” Chubarov said in an interview with Anadolu Agency.
“We are calling on the EU to preserve its unified position and expand sanctions against Russia to stop its imperialistic policies, its aggression in Crimea,” he added.
“We want Russia to withdraw from Crimea and return it to Ukraine. We want to see Ukraine’s territorial integrity restored again,” he said.
Chubarov stressed that this could only be achieved by EU’s increased political and economic pressure on Russia to make it respect international law.
“Several EU countries, like Austria, Italy and France, are reportedly seeking to soften or end sanctions against Russia, with the claimed goal of developing dialogue with Moscow.