UPDATE: EU should abolish anti-Russian sanctions – Sarkozy

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ST. PETERSBURG/BERLIN, Jun 16 (PRIME) -- The E.U. should abolish its anti-Russian sanctions, but Moscow should make the first step in this direction, France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“I am among those who think that sanctions should be lifted as we have enough problems even without them. We cannot allow us to suffer, and the strongest one should offer his hand first,” he said. “The strongest one is Russia, and it is President (Vladimir) Putin.”

Alexander Lambsdorff, member of the European Parliament, said that proposal of German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to lift the sanctions gradually on the basis of a progress in implementation of the Minsk agreements is relevant and it has a point.

European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker said that Russia is one of the countries that had signed the Minsk agreement. “It means that further steps are obvious – we should ensure fulfillment of the Minsk agreements, no more and no less. This is the only way for lifting the economic sanctions that were imposed, he said.

Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said that the ministry is preparing documents on prolongation of the Russian food import ban until the end of 2017. “The initiative of introduction (of the sanctions) was our partners’, so the initiative of abolishment should also be on their side,” he said, adding that the list of countries and banned food imports will not change.

In 2014, relations between Russia and the West deteriorated to their worse since the Cold War 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 limited food imports from some countries, including the U.S., the E.U., Canada, Australia, and Norway.

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