The United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said that Moscow needs to suffer consequences for fomenting the unrest in eastern Ukraine that resulted in pro-Russian separatists allegedly shooting down the airliner, killing all 298 people aboard.
“This terrible incident happened in the first place because of
Russia’s support for the separatists in eastern Ukraine, because of the
flow of heavy weapons from Russia into eastern Ukraine,” Hammond said in
Brussels, before a meeting of foreign ministers from the European
Union’s 28 member states.
He confirmed to journalists that it is possible to place an embargo on supplies of military equipment to Russia.
“I shall be urging my colleagues and our partners to send a very
clear and strong signal to Russia today,” the diplomat said, adding:
“Everybody wants to see a balanced set of measures as we go forward, but
the world has changed in the last few days.”
