German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that there is a certain progress in settling the conflict in Ukraine's Donbas region, but it is not yet enough for lifting sanctions against Russia
BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2019) German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that there is a certain progress in settling the conflict in Ukraine's Donbas region, but it is not yet enough for lifting sanctions against Russia.On Thursday, leaders of the EU member states decided to extend the sanctions against Moscow for six months. The decision came after the Normandy format talks on the Ukrainian conflict on December 9.
"Last night, French President Emmanuel Macron and I briefed [other EU leaders] on the outcome of the Normandy summit. We can say that there is some progress, but it is not enough to say that sanctions could be lifted. Therefore, we unanimously decided to extend them," Merkel said at a briefing.
The summit in Paris concluded in a joint communique in which the Normandy leaders confirmed commitment to the Minsk agreements of 2014 and 2015. In concrete terms, it comes down to immediate ceasefire and exchange of all conflict-related prisoners by year-end, amendments to the Ukrainian constitution that would ensure special status to Donbas, and equidistant pull-out of forces by the end of coming March.
Russia's relations with the European Union significantly deteriorated in 2014 following Crimea's decision to rejoin Russia and the eruption of the Ukrainian conflict. The West has accused Moscow of interfering in the Ukrainian internal affairs and imposed sanctions on Russia, while the latter has refuted the accusations and introduced a food embargo on the Western nations in response.
