UK PM warns of energy, trade bans against Russia

Russia could face new sanctions targeting EU-Russian trade flows and Russia’s energy sector if it intervenes in eastern Ukraine, British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned.

Cameron told British lawmakers on Wednesday that the European Commission had already begun drafting such sanctions against Moscow in case they were needed.

“In terms of economic sectors and future sanctions were Putin to go further in Ukraine … it would have to include areas such as energy, financial services, trade, (and) arms,” Cameron told the Commons following meetings with his EU colleagues in the Hague over the past four days.

Cameron’s remarks comes a day after thousands of people staged rallies in two major Eastern Ukrainian cities Kharkiv and Donetsk, calling for a referendum like the one held in the Crimean region to secede from the former Soviet state and join Russia.

Nearly 97 percent of Crimean residents voted for union with Russia in the referendum.

On March 17, a day after Crimea’s referendum, EU foreign ministers agreed to slap travel bans and asset freezes on 11 Russian nationals and 8 people from Crimea that they claimed to be responsible for the independence referendum in the Crimea Peninsula.

Last week, EU imposed more sanctions on Russian officials, this time hitting the inner circle of Russian President Vladimir Putin, including the Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, two of his aids and nine others.

Those on the list were subjected to EU asset freezes and visa bans.

The new sanctions bring the number of Russian officials, targeted by EU sanctions over Crimea’s reunion with Russia, to 33.