Foreign Minister of the Netherlands Frans Timmermans has said that the EU saw positive words but not positive actions by Russia with regard to settling Ukrainian crisis.

However he said right now it's too early to talk about the third phase of sanctions.

He expressed this opinion in Brussels on Monday before the meeting of the EU Council at the level of foreign ministers.

"We've seen positive words but we haven't seen any positive actions frankly. I think the announcement [by Russian President Vladimir Putin] that the referendum should not take place was a positive sign. But the follow up didn't really impress me," Timmermans said.

In addition, head of Dutch Foreign Ministry believes that it's too early to talk about the third phase of the sanctions at this stage.

According to him, the EU is at the second phase of its reaction and there's still ample room for action.

Besides, Timmermans gave an affirmative answer to the question of adopting a resolution at this meeting regarding an extension of the list of people falling under sanctions in the second phase.

When commenting on the so-called referendum in the eastern Ukraine, Timmermans has said that it should simply be ignored, as it fails to contribute to finding a solution to this chaos.

According to him, this referendum shouldn't have been conducted in the current situation in Ukraine, it didn't comply with fundamental principles, and its result wasn't surprising.