UPDATE: Obama: US to keep anti-Russian sanctions until Minsk deal fulfilled
(Adds comments by Putin in paragraphs 3–4)
HANGZHOU, China, Sep 5 (PRIME) -- The U.S. will not abolish sanctions against Russia until the Minsk agreements envisioning a ceasefire in southeastern Ukraine are fulfilled, President Barack Obama said at a news conference Monday.
The Minsk agreements are not being fulfilled and the two sides should use an opportunity over the next few weeks to finalize the document and define a sequence to implement the deal, Obama said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the sanctions issue was touched on during his talks with Obama on Monday, but he believes there is no sense in such discussion.
“The sanctions issue was touched on, but marginally, we have not discussed anything in details, but I do not see sense in discussing such issues. This was not our initiative to introduce these restrictions. I think we will probably discuss these issues in the future, if we ever reach these discussions,” he said.
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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