Western leaders who
met on the margins of last week's Group of 20 summit in Turkey agreed to extend
sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine by six months until
July of next year, a senior European diplomat told Reuters.
The decision was taken despite mounting calls to cooperate
more closely with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the fight against Islamic
State following the militant group's Nov. 13 attacks in Paris which killed 130
people.
U.S. President Barack Obama, Germany's Angela Merkel, Britain's David
Cameron, Italy's Matteo Renzi and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who
represented President Francois Hollande at the summit, attended the brief
meeting near the conclusion of the G20 meeting in Antalya.
The sanctions are due to expire in January, before full implementation
of the so-called Minsk peace deal, which aims to resolve the standoff between
Kiev and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Western countries have said all elements of Minsk need to be fulfilled
before they can consider easing the sanctions.
In particular, the diplomat said, the leaders had
concluded that it was important to maintain pressure on Russia ahead of planned
elections in eastern Ukraine.
"The elections in Ukraine are heavy
lifting," the diplomat said, requesting anonymity because the agreement in
Antalya was confidential.
"We only have a chance to get what we
want if we play the sanctions card. Financial sanctions need to stay in place
until the bitter end," the diplomat added.
Following the attacks, Hollande has called
for a grand coalition of nations to fight Islamic State, which controls large
swathes of Syria and Iraq. The French president is due to travel to Moscow on
Nov. 26 to discuss closer cooperation with Putin.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will dine
with Hollande in Paris the evening before his trip and, according to German
officials, will urge him to remain firm on the sanctions question while in
Moscow.
(Editing by Ralph Boulton)
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