Two things are important now: firstly, that we want to show a stop sign making it clear that this action is not acceptable. Secondly, we need to prevent further escalation. For this we need unity between European partners and our transatlantic partners and, above all, the international community. That is why I have just invited my colleagues to a G7 Foreign Ministers’ conference call. And we are just about to have an informal Foreign Ministers’ meeting here in Paris to make it clear that we condemn – jointly and with one voice – this violation of international law, and that we will now take far-reaching measures and initiate sanctions which are coordinated and can be further tightened.

Of course, we wanted to prevent this situation. At the same time, we have been intensively preparing for this situation, as well as other scenarios, during the last few weeks. That is why we now have such great unity between the G7 partners and the Europeans. We have always made it clear that we want to get round the negotiating table to prevent further escalation and to ensure that this Russia crisis does not worsen. The Russian Government has now decided the opposite, namely to violate international law, that it wants to take action against peaceful co‑existence in Europe. We will respond with one voice.