UPDATE: EU may mull easing anti-Russian sanctions in Jul – source

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BRUSSELS/LONDON, Feb 12 (PRIME) -- The E.U. may consider easing anti-Russian sanctions in July when the next review of the sanctions regime will be made, a diplomatic source in Brussels told PRIME on Friday.

That’s why the E.U. is putting more pressure on Moscow and Kiev to fulfill the Minsk agreements, the source said.

In the first place, Germany, France and Italy are interested in lifting economic sanctions, while primarily Poland and the Baltic states oppose it, he added.

Relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated to their worst since the Cold War in 2014 due to a military conflict in Ukraine. The West introduced sanctions against some Russian individuals and firms and further against the energy and banking sectors. In response, Russia prohibited food imports from some countries, including the U.S., the E.U., Canada, Australia, and Norway.

In mid-2015, the mutual sanctions were prolonged for one year.

Sir Edward Leigh, head of the British parliament’s cross-party working group on relations with Russia, believes that sanctions introduced against Russia will be gradually eased. Russia will never return Crimea to Ukraine, but sanctions will not stay forever, he told PRIME in an interview. The Minsk agreements are already reducing tensions.

Both Russia and the West are interested in finding a compromise over eastern Ukraine, Leigh said.

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