The responsibility to stop violence in Ukraine rests squarely with those in power and EU urges them to so as quicly as possible, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said  upon arrival at the extraordinary Foreign Affairs Council on Ukraine.

“We have said in all the visits to Ukraine, what needs to happen: the dialogue, the importance of moving on the constitutional issues and the importance of moving towards free and fair elections. We stand by those; and we stand by the people of Ukraine,” she told reporters.

In light of what has happened, EU High Represnetative said she felt it was important to bring Foreign Ministers together to consider all possibilities and to look today at what action they are going to take.

“In this context we're also going to discuss at the Foreign Affairs Council the possible restrictive measures and I'll report later on what we decided”.