Merkel wants to tie Russian sanctions to all Minsk agreements

BERLIN, Mar 19 (PRIME) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak up for tying sanctions that the E.U. imposed on Russia over its role in the Ukrainian crisis to the implementation of full Minsk agreements at Thursday’s E.U. summit, she told Bundestag.

Last year Europeans gradually imposed sanctions on Russia, which expire in July and September. The E.U. cannot lift them if only the first few points of the Minsk agreements are fulfilled, Merkel said.

“This is why tonight I will be speaking in favor of targeting the sanctions at the Minsk package and its fulfillment,” she said.

Earlier in March, the E.U. decided to prolong sanctions imposed on Russia last year until September 15, while the U.S. extended its blacklist of individuals and slapped new sanctions on Russian National Commercial Bank for operating in Crimea and the Eurasian Youth Union for actively recruiting individuals with military and combat experience to fight in Ukraine.

Both the E.U. and the U.S. have repeatedly said that new sanctions may be imposed on Russia if the conflict in Ukraine worsens.

On February 12, negotiators, including Russia and the E.U., agreed in Minsk on a ceasefire in Ukraine from February 15, removal of heavy weapons and amendments to the country’s constitution, which included the country’s decentralization to give a unique legal status to some areas of the self-proclaimed republics in the east.

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