CNN, Kiev :
The Kremlin is threatening to hit back if the European Union sanctions Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
Russian lawmakers are drafting a law that will allow Russia to confiscate assets belonging to US and European companies if it faces sanctions.
Andrei Klishas, a senior lawmaker in the upper house, said the bill “would offer the president and government opportunities to defend our sovereignty from threats,” state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
The tit-for-tat threats are the latest in a war of words over Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine’s southern Crimea region.
Russian forces remain in effective control of the Black Sea peninsula, in a tense standoff with Ukrainian forces loyal to the new interim government in Kiev.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned Wednesday on Twitter that possible sanctions will be on the agenda when EU leaders meet Thursday.
“The invasion of one country into another is contrary to all international laws. We must return to dialogue and to bear in mind that Ukraine should work with Russia and the EU,” he said.
“We cannot accept, we members of the international community, a country that invades another.”
It comes after a day of strong words Tuesday, when a defiant Russian President Vladimir Putin denied Russian troops were in Crimea but reserved the right to take military action to protect the safety of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.
He also slammed the interim government, which replaced ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, a Russian ally, as illegitimate.
He said the crisis had begun when the international community failed to react to the anti-government protests which preceded Yanukovych’s ouster.
“There was a military coup and the legitimate president was removed by methods which were not in the constitution or legislation,” he said.
“If we are so lenient to the people who are trying to govern our neighbor, everyone must realize a bad example can be spread and there shouldn’t be any double standards.”
Lavrov repeated Putin’s denial that Russian troops are in control in Crimea, saying that the troops in question are “self-defense” forces over whom Russia has no control.
Decisions on whether international observers should be sent into Ukraine are for leaders in the country to make, he said. He pointed out that the newly installed pro-Russian government in Crimea does not see the authorities in Kiev as legitimate.
“This problem is multi-faceted. In order to calm the situation down everyone must act in accordance with the law,” he said.
Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry are set to meet later on Paris, during international talks on Lebanon.
On Tuesday, Kerry accused Russia of making up reasons for intervention in Ukraine, saying “not a single piece of credible evidence supports any one of these claims.”
As the high-stakes showdown in the Russian-majority Crimea region continues, diplomatic efforts to end the crisis continue apace.
NATO members are set to meet with Russia’s ambassador to the alliance, amid concerns that the crisis could spread.
Lavrov also held talks with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton in Madrid. Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt will meet with his Danish and Norwegian counterparts in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, he said on Twitter.
