Borrell doubts Kremlin wants de-escalation in Ukraine

EU foreign ministers have discussed the situation with the massing of Russian troops in occupied Crimea and possible ways to de-escalate tensions, but Russia's desire to participate in this work remains unclear, according to EU High Representative Josep Borrell.

He said this at a press conference following a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council on Thursday, May 6, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We went on to discuss Russia's recent [military] build-up in illegally-annexed Crimea and on the Ukrainian border. We discussed the de-escalation of the tensions and the implementation of the Minsk agreements as the only way forward for a lasting political solution. But it is unclear that Russia wants to engage fully in this respect and 'unclear' is a mild word," Borrell said.

In his speech, he mentioned Ukraine one more time, but in a very important context, regarding the provision of strategically important satellite images.

Borrell said that it was the first time in almost 30 years that the Board of the European Union Satellite Centre, based in Torrejon at the outskirts of Madrid, meets at a political level.

"For me, the Satellite Centre is a very important asset for our institutions and agencies, for Member States, for our missions and operations, because it provides us with a critical geopolitical intelligence analysis. It also provides [support] to our partners such as the OSCE [in] Ukraine or the United Nations in Libya with an invaluable view of what is happening on the ground," he said.

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain