British Prime Minister David Cameron says that the European Union should consider introducing economic sanctions that will hit Russia hard.
Those sanctions would include freezing the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest associates and oligarchs, Cameron said after the downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine.
"I hope that progress will be made on this issue (at the EU meeting on Tuesday), and I think it is time to start with new new sanctions," he said.
Cameron added that Russia should not have access to European markets, capital and technical expertise as long as Putin fuels the conflict in Ukraine, reports Reuters.
"We need to put pressure on all our partners and say we cannot do business as usual with a country that behaves in this way," Cameron said.
He questioned French plans to sell the Mistral helicopter carrier to Russia, saying that fulfilling such an order (a contract worth $1,66 billion) would be unthinkable in Britain after the downing of the Malaysian airliner in Ukraine.
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