RIO DE JANEIRO: European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday said Moscow's support for pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine violated international law and demanded measures to resolve a crisis exacerbated by the downing of a Malaysian jet in the area.
"Russia, flying in the face of all international norms, has annexed Crimea. And that is an absolute violation of international law. Russia had recognized the independence of Ukraine at the end of the Soviet Union," Barroso said.
"Unfortunately in this crisis we have seen Russia adopting a nationalist tone which we thought had no place in the 21st Century (using) the logic of the Cold War, and that is deplorable," said Barroso on a visit to Rio.
Portugal's Barroso, addressing a conference on European links with Brazil, said Europe was aghast over Russia's role in the situation in Ukraine.
He further addressed Thursday's downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in a region controlled by pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists.
"Regarding all the events concerning the destruction of the Malaysia Airlines plane, this is all very serious. We have called for a full investigation," Barroso said.
"The first indications we have though we cannot totally confirm are that the plane was downed by separatist pro-Russian rebels.
"Of course now we are waiting to find out what really happened. "The European Union cannot accept this type of behavior.
"It will be difficult if the Russian government does not take wholly clear measures which to date have not been taken aimed at preventing what is currently happening in eastern Ukraine," Barroso said.
Earlier this year, Barroso warned Europe had to draw up a united response to the crisis, saying the Ukraine unrest posed a major threat to security in Europe and could cause greater destabilization than that seen in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
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