Prague, June 14 (CTK) – The existing EU sanctions against Russia are likely to be prolonged till the end of year, Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek (Social Democrats, CSSD), told Czech Television (CT) Sunday.
Their escalation or reduction are not being expected, Zaoralek said.
However, this depends on the developments in eastern Ukraine, he added.
The June European Council will deal with three alternatives, Zaoralek said.
Either it will have turned out that the sides in the conflict in Ukraine observe the Minsk agreements and it will be possible to eliminate gradually the sanctions or it will be obvious that the progress is not clear cut and the sanctions will stay in their current form and the situation will be still watched, Zaoralek said.
The third alternative is to step up the sanctions if new clashes occur, he added, citing the example of the recent deployment of about 20 tanks and maybe 1,000 thousands of soldiers in the hostilities in eastern Ukraine.
If something like this repeats, it would be a reason for another step in the sanctions, Zaoralek said.
“Based on our previous debates, I consider the sanctions most likely to be prolonged till the end of the year,” he added.
MEP Jan Zahradil, deputy chairman of the right-wing opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS), said if the violation of the Minsk agreements continued, further sanctions would be on the order of the day.
“It is in the Czech national interest that the Russian sphere of influence should not expand to the West, towards us,” Zahradil said.
Zaoralek and Zahradil went on to comment on the news from abroad that the USA was about to deploy heavy arms in the Baltic and eastern European countries to reassure the local allies, scared by the Russian intervention in Ukraine.
“From the military viewpoint, I cannot see any reason for their deployment in the Czech Republic,” Zaoralek said.
Zahradil said he would not have the slightest objection against the presence of a number of U.S. soldiers in the Czech Republic.
