The European Union is closely monitoring the shelling of Donbas by militants, but will not talk about sanctions against Russia yet. An EU source told Reuters on Thursday.
Asked about the latest shelling in Ukraine, the official said: "The trigger for imposing sanctions is a matter of political assessment. We are not entering that discussion yet. We are closely following the shelling in Donbas, we understand that it can be used as a check or justification."
As a reminder, the leaders of the 27 EU countries are meeting in Brussels today to discuss the situation in and around Ukraine.
A source involved in the preparations for the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that a report from the French and German leaders will be presented today after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On February 17, the village of Stanytsia Luhanska in the Luhansk region was shelled from non-government-controlled territory. As a result of heavy artillery fire, shells hit a kindergarten building, and there were casualties.
Later today in Luhansk region, militants shelled the village of Vrubovka near Popasna. One of the shells hit the yard of the Vrubovsky lyceum. At the time of the shelling, there were 30 students and 14 staff in the lyceum.
According to the OOS headquarters, since the beginning of the day on February 17, the militants have violated the "silence" in Donbas 29 times, an AFU soldier was wounded.
