Germany’s Special Representative for Cooperation with Russia calls on Ukraine to focus on Donbas conflict
Germany's Coordinator of German-Russian Intersocietal Cooperation, Gernot Erler, said that Ukraine should focus on resolving the conflict in the Donbas, and only then return to the issue of Crimea’s de-occupation, reports Deutschlandfunk.de.
According to the German special envoy, such an approach coincides with the wishes of the European community. It considers the ending of the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine a matter of priority. The matter of the de-occupation of the Crimea is on the political agenda, but should be considered later, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.
A day earlier, the head of the Free Democratic Party of Germany, Christian Lindner, advocated resumption of cordial relations with Russia and called for the issue of the annexation of Crimea to be temporarily “sealed” in order to make progress in other matters with Moscow.
On August 4, the EU Council decided to add three Russian nationals and three companies to its list of sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the “violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty” after Siemens gas turbines were sent to the Crimea.
The additional sanctions include freezing of assets and a travel ban, which now will apply to 153 individuals and 40 entities.