In a statement obtained by RFE/RL Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak, a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has raised questions about Russia's "respect...of its international obligations" and expressed concern over Ukrainian military pilot Savchenko's abduction and handover to Russia. Here's the full text:
"We are concerned by the transferral to the territory of the Russian Federation and subsequent imprisonment of Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko, following her kidnapping by militants in Eastern Ukraine.
This raises questions about the respect by the Russian Federation of its international obligations. We call on the Russian Federation to abide by its obligations as a Members State of the Council of Europe and party of the European Convention on Human Rights. In that context, we welcome that Ukraine's Consul in the Russian Federation has been able to meet with her."
Here's our latest story on Savchenko's plight.
Here's our newsroom's wrap-up of some of the various reactions from Russia that we've already chronicled to the U.S. and EU sanctions:
The Kremlin has blasted new U.S. and EU sanctions against Russia for its failure to take concrete steps to stop an escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine.
In a July 17 statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the sanctions a "primitive attempt to take revenge for the fact that events in Ukraine are developing differently from Washington's scenario," adding that "we do not intend to tolerate blackmail and reserve the right to take retaliatory measures."
On July 16, Washington announced new sanctions on a range of Russian companies from armaments producer Kalashnikov to Russian energy companies such as Rosneft and Novatek.
The Foreign Ministry also chided the European Union, saying Russia is disappointed that the EU "succumbed to U.S. blackmail."
Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on a visit to Brazil that the sanctions "will push U.S.-Russian relations into a dead end and cause very serious damage."
Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS, Interfax, and AFP
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke about the new sanctions at a news conference today:
"Of course it is a deepening of the economic sanctions. Indirectly the [previous] listing of [sanctioned] individuals already amounted to economic sanctions, but [the latest decision] is a deepening of that. We can debate whether it's a stage two or three [of the sanctions], but that is irrelevant from my point of view. Nevertheless, we are entering the economic sphere here."
Authorities in Kyiv are flatly blaming a Russian warplane for the downing yesterday of a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter over Ukraine.
A spokesman for Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council, Andriy Lysenko, says a "military plane from the air force of the Russian Federation carried out a rocket strike on a Ukrainian Air Force SU-25 as it fulfilled its task over the territory of Ukraine" on the evening of July 16.
He said the pilot was able to eject from the plane and was evacuated safely.
Russia has not yet commented on the allegation.
Kyiv said a Ukrainian military transport plane downed on July 14 was "probably" hit by a missile fired from the Russian side of the border.
The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling on Moscow to support the peace plan offered by Ukraine, respect the cease-fire, and withdraw its mercenaries via the retreat corridor. It also asks Russia to release and urges the EU to "facilitate an agreement allowing Ukraine to pay a competitive price for its gas and condemn the political use of energy resources by Russia....[as] this undermines the EU's trust in Russia as a trading partner," a parliamentary press release says. The resolution also expresses a readiness to ratify association and trade deals with Kyiv.
French President Francois Holland says of the new sanctions against Russia:
"It was decided that the level of sanctions will be raised against entities -- that is groups, companies or individuals -- which helped the separatists or which have committed serious attacks on the sovereignty of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The first list will be established by the end of July...."
"The second decision taken today is to suspend the funding of the European Investment Bank as well as the EBRD regarding projects which up until then had been decided jointly and which will be interrupted."