Ukraine crisis: EU leaders to hold emergency talks, US to decide on aid package

Zee Media Bureau

Kiev: A day after high-level talks with Russia in Paris ended without significant progress, leaders of the European Union (EU) will hold an emergency summit on Thursday to discuss ways to end the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and press Russia to withdraw its troop from Crimea region. Some EU members, from Eastern Europe, have been pressing for imposing tough sanctions, however others - led by Germany – favour mediation as way out of the crisis. Pro-Russian forces are in de facto control of Crimea. Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives will also vote today on authorising an aid package for Ukraine, but legislating economic sanctions into reality against an over-aggressive Russia is far from settled. Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said yesterday he wanted to move swiftly, then promptly announced on Twitter he would hold the vote the next day on the proposed USD 1 billion in loan guarantees to assist crisis-hit Kiev`s new government. The White House had previously unveiled the aid plan. Speaker John Boehner said the goal was to help President Barack Obama "strengthen his hand" in dealing with Europe`s most severe security crisis since the Cold War. Boehner also said a set of economic sanctions was being worked up by his committee leaders. But Congress`s other chamber, the Senate, is in a hurry-up-and-wait approach, with a small window of opportunity to accomplish an aid package and sanctions before a weeklong congressional recess begins after next Friday. "Whether I can do it next week, I don`t know," the Senate`s Democratic leader Harry Reid acknowledged to reporters. Several other bills or nominations are stacked up for votes ahead of any Ukraine legislation. Reid said he envisioned a "two-step process" -- aid first, then sanctions -- but a lot will depend on what Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez unveils today. Menendez said he expects a bill that would include a "menu of options on the sanctions side." With Agency inputs