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EU Threatens Sanctions on Russia

Asian alliance, including China, condemns aggression

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 28, 2008 8:21 AM CDT

(Newser) – The European Union is considering sanctions against the Great Bear over its incursion into Georgia, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said today, as EU leaders head to an emergency summit. And a Russian plea for support from the East was strongly rebuffed by members of an Asian alliance that includes China, the Guardian reports.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization instead denounced the use of force and called for respect for every country's territorial integrity. The group expressed “grave concerns” over Russia’s actions, and urged a diplomatic resolution to the crisis. In a speech in Kiev, Britain’s foreign secretary, David Miliband, declared that NATO wouldn’t accept a redrawing of Europe.

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France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner gestures during a press conference at Rafik Hariri International Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, Aug. 25, 2008. (AP Photo)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev records an interview with to French broadcaster TF1 at the Presidential residence in Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/ RIA Novosti, Vladimir Rodionov, Presidential Press Service)

Georgian sailors are seen between US, Georgian and EU flags. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

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My friend Kouchner also said that we will soon attack Moldova and Ukraine and the Crimea ... But that is a sick imagination. - Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister

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EU Threatens Sanctions on Russia