Europe Needs Concrete Action Against Putin Aggression,  Ukraine President Says

(Bloomberg) -- Europe shouldn’t trust Vladimir Putin and concrete measures are needed against Russian aggression, Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko said in interview with daily newspaper Corriere della Sera,

“Ukraine is under military threat, our independence is in danger and with it European security," Poroshenko said, also suggesting a list of measures to adopt. They could include blocking the Nord Stream 2 project, increasing NATO presence in the Black Sea, banning Russian ships from European ports and political, economic and military support to Ukraine.

Tensions flared up recently when Russian warships fired on Ukrainian vessels before seizing three vessels with their crews.

The $11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline is one of several Russian projects that circumvents Ukraine in order to give the world’s No. 1 gas producer direct access to its biggest markets. Russia has also been raising liquefied natural gas output and building a southern pipeline transiting the Black Sea. Ukraine has warned repeatedly that it risks losing billions in transit fees from the projects.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday at the German-Ukrainian business forum in Berlin that Nord Stream 2 makes Ukraine “strategically more vulnerable,” though it “remains an important transit country” for Russian gas.

"I appreciate Merkel’s moves to contain Moscow’s expansionism but Russians continue to pursue their policy of invasion," Poroshenko told Corriere.

To contact the reporter on this story: Daniele Lepido in Milan at dlepido1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rebecca Penty at rpenty@bloomberg.net, Kevin Costelloe, Dulue Mbachu

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