On 6 March 2014, the Heads of State or Government of the European Union strongly condemned the unprovoked violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by the Russian Federation and called on the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its armed forces to the areas of their permanent stationing, in accordance with the relevant agreements. They stated that any further steps by the Russian Federation to destabilise the situation in Ukraine would lead to additional and far reaching consequences for relations in a broad range of economic areas between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and the Russian Federation, on the other hand.

On 17 March 2014, the Council adopted Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine

OJ L 78, 17.3.2014, p. 16.

On 21 March 2014, the European Council recalled the statement of the Heads of State or Government of 6 March 2014 and asked the Commission and the Member States to prepare possible targeted measures.

On 27 May, 27 June and 16 July 2014 the Heads of State or Government of the European Union noted that preparatory work by the Commission, the EEAS and the Member States on possible targeted measures was underway so that further steps could be taken without delay.

On 22 July, the Council urged the Russian Federation to actively use its influence over the illegally armed groups in order to achieve full, immediate, safe and secure access to the site of the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in Donetsk, full cooperation with the work on recovering remains and possessions and full cooperation with the independent investigation, including unhindered access to the site for as long as needed for the investigation and possible follow up investigations.

The Council also urged Russia to stop the increasing flow of weapons, equipment and militants across the border in order to achieve rapid and tangible results in de-escalation. The Council further urged Russia to withdraw its additional troops from the border area.

In addition, the Council recalled the previous commitments by the European Council and expressed readiness to introduce without delay a package of further significant restrictive measures if full and immediate cooperation from Russia on the abovementioned demands failed to materialise. The Council requested the Commission and the EEAS to finalise their preparatory work on possible targeted measures and to present by 24 July proposals for taking action, including on access to capital markets, defence, dual-use goods, and sensitive technologies, including in the energy sector.

In view of the gravity of the situation, the Council considers it appropriate to take restrictive measures in response to Russia's actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine.

In this context, it is appropriate to prohibit transactions in or the provision of financing or investment services or dealing in new bonds or equity or similar financial instruments with a maturity exceeding 90 days issued by state-owned Russian financial institutions, excluding Russia-based institutions with international status established by intergovernmental agreements with Russia as one of the shareholders. These prohibitions do not affect the granting of loans to or by those state-owned Russian financial institutions independently of their maturity.

In addition, Member States should prohibit the sale, supply, transfer or export to Russia of arms and related materiel of all types. The procurement from Russia of arms and related materiel of all types should also be prohibited.

Furthermore, the sale, supply, transfer or export of dual-use items for military use or to military end-users in Russia should be prohibited. This prohibition should not affect the exports of dual-use goods and technology, including for aeronautics and for the space industry, for non-military use and/or for non-military end-users.

The sale, supply, transfer or export of certain sensitive goods and technologies should be prohibited when they are destined for deep water oil exploration and production, arctic oil exploration and production or shale oil projects.

Further action by the Union is needed in order to implement certain measures.