RUSSIA rejected Ukraine “sanctions rhetoric” as destructive yesterday, saying it would defend its national interests after European Union leaders kept economic sanctions in place.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also accused Kiev of violating the terms of a peace deal for eastern Ukraine that had been agreed in Belorussian capital Minsk.

“We prefer to engage in creative matters, not destructive matters such as sanctions rhetoric.“So we do not discuss sanctions and the Russian Federation will do what is in its national interests,” he said.

European Union leaders shifted their ground on Thursday and decided that they would not lift economic sanctions against Russia.

The sanctions were imposed because of Russia’s alleged military intervention in Ukraine, but are now linked to “complete implementation” of the ceasefire.

Ukraine had urged the EU to keep up pressure on Russia.

Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (above) met European Council president Donald Tusk before the summit, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to divide Europe on Ukraine.

The EU has visa bans and asset freezes in place targeting 150 individuals, including high-ranking Russians and 37 entities such as banks, companies and rebel groups.

It also has economic sanctions in place that have hit Russian financial and energy interests — as does the US.Mr Yatsenyuk also hailed European backing for the Kiev government’s call to the UN for international peacekeepers to be sent to eastern Ukraine.

“Everyone wants to get peace in Europe. One of the tools to reach this peace is to deploy peacekeepers,” Mr Yatsenyuk claimed.

Also on Thursday, an influential European Parliament committee voted in favour of a plan to put Ukraine even further in debt to the EU with €1.8 billion (£1.4bn) in medium-term loans.

The existing IMF bail-out will supply more than £10bn over four years to partially bridge an existing £23bn spending gap, but there is little indication of how Ukraine will pay it back.

Ukraine is also set to receive £4.4bn loans from other donors over the next 18 months.And it also owes £1.8bn to the Russian government, a loan taken out by the previous administration.

by Our News Desk