Berlin, June 15 (CTK) – The European sanctions against Russia should be extended and they cannot be lifted unless the Minsk agreements are met, the Czech and German foreign ministers, Lubomir Zaoralek and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, agreed on Wednesday.
The EU 28 may be deciding on the sanctions extension next week.
“The sanctions are naturally still dependent on progress in the Minsk process,” Steinmeier said.
A gradual lifting of the sanctions against Moscow can be taken into consideration only if significant progress were reached, which is not the case now, he added.
“I have a feeling that there is quite a broad consensus in these fundamental matters among European countries. It is really true that the lifting of the sanctions is connected with the fulfilment of the Minsk agreements,” Zaoralek noted.
The European countries and the United States imposed sanctions against Russia in 2014 in reaction to the Russian annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Eastern Ukraine.
The EU will decide on a possible extension of the sanctions before their deadline expires at the end of July. Some diplomats indicate that an agreement of all EU member states might not be easy this time.
Zaoralek and Steinmeier also discussed Brexit at their meeting in Berlin. They said they wished Britain stayed in the EU.
