Merkel: Sanctions will not be lifted as long as there are Russian tanks in Ukraine
German Chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged that both Moscow and Berlin would be interested in lifting anti-Russian sanctions. However, according to her, it is currently impossible because “there has not been one day when the ceasefire has been implemented in the east of Ukraine.”
“I’m interested in lifting the sanctions, and once we reach progress in the Minsk negotiations, the sanctions will be weakened,” Merkel noted.
She also noted that she was “shocked when the first Russian tank crossed the Ukrainian border.” But now, the chancellor added, “we are talking about many, many tanks, and not just a single one,” Die Zeit wrote.
Earlier, Bloomberg agency reported that rising tensions in the Crimea “distance Russia from establishing relationships with the West and easing the sanctions.”