There is no reason to lift the European Union's
sanctions against Russia as Moscow has not fulfilled all of its commitments
under an international peace plan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an
interview published on Friday.
Merkel told the RedaktionsNetzwerks Deutschland (RND)
that Russia had caused a major crisis by annexing the Black Sea peninsula of
Crimea in 2014 and with its support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.
"Europe had to
react against this violation of basic principles," Merkel said.
She added that she and
French President Francois Hollande were working "with all one's
strength" to urge Ukraine and Russia to implement the so-called Minsk
ceasefire agreement despite all the difficulties.
"This is and remains the yardstick for the future
of the sanctions," Merkel said.
With fighting occasionally flaring and both sides
blaming each other for failing to implement truce terms, the Minsk peace deal
looks moribund.
The EU agreed in June to extend energy, financial and
defense sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine until the end of
January next year.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and
other leading Social Democrats, the junior partner in Merkel's ruling
coalition, have struck a more conciliatory tone in the past months, saying the
EU should gradually phase out sanctions if there was partial progress in the
peace process.
But even Steinmeier has said that Russia and Ukraine
have hardly made any progress in recent talks to implement the peace plan.
"There are no improvements, especially when it
comes to security," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Sawsan Chebli said,
adding the negotiations had reached deadlock also in other areas such as
political reforms and local elections.
"Still despite the difficult situation and
repeated setbacks we think it's important that we keep on trying and do everything
we can to make the Minsk peace plan a success," Chebli said.
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