Cameron: "We cannot go on doing business as usual with a country when it is behaving in this way"

BBC: 21. July 2014

UK Prime Minister David Cameron says Europe must now consider "hard hitting economic sanctions" against Russia.

"Moscow cannot expect access to European markets, capital or technical expertise while it is fuelling a conflict in Ukraine, he said.

Hundreds have died in a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine, which broke out after Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula following the toppling of a Moscow-backed president in Kiev in February by pro-Western protesters.

Britain has said it is ready to pay the price of moving towards a new phase of EU economic sanctions because much bigger costs were at stake.

London is a prime destination for Russian businesses, and Russian oligarchs are major property owners in Britain.

Britain's energy major BP already faces the prospect of fallout following the U.S. decision to sanction Russia's largest oil firm Rosneft, of which BP owns a fifth.

The severity of future European Union sanctions could depend on the Netherlands, which suffered the greatest loss of life when the Malaysia Airlines flight was brought down.

European finance ministers meet in Brussels on Tuesday, July 22nd 2014 to agree their next move.