EU foreign policy chief calls for dialogue with Russia
欧盟外交政策负责人呼吁与俄罗斯对话

EU foreign ministers have called for dialogue with Russia, on the crisis in Ukraine, and they've also held off from increasing sanctions. On Monday, ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss the implications of recent elections in eastern Ukraine.

It came a week after residents there voted to elect legislators and executives. Russia supported the polls, but the vote was condemned by the UN, the EU and the United States,who said the elections violated Ukraine’s constitution and the terms of September's ceasefire agreement. The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, called for a new dialogue with Russia, but avoided threatening Russia with greater sanctions over its role in the conflict.

"How to engage with Russia in a dialogue between Kiev and Moscow, between Kiev and the east of Ukraine, between the European Union and Russia, not only on Ukraine but also on a wide series of elements, global and regional issues. And this is going to be one of the issues on which we will go more in depth in the coming months to re-asses our overall relations with Russia. Sanctions in themselves are not a target, are not an objective. They can be an instrument if they come together with other measures, and I think it’s time that the European Union and the ministers concentrate also on the other issues that we have to build for having a complete strategy," says Federica Mogherini, EU Foreign Policy Chief.