Contents tagged with Sigmar Gabriel

  • German Foreign Minister: We do not need a debate on Crimea, we need to think about truce in Donbas

    In an interview with the German daily newspaper Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel claimed that Christian Lindner, a leader among German liberals, is just trying to get headlines when speaking of the temporary postponement of the issue of Crimea's annexation, and that the main task at present is to achieve an ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. European Pravda reported this.

    "In my opinion, Mr. Lindner is only concerned with headlines. We do not need debates on Crimea. We …

  • German Foreign Minister calls new U.S. sanctions against Russia 'unlawful'

    German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump will prevent his country from imposing energy sanctions on Russia in their current form, reported  German broadcasting company Deutsche Welle.

    “We ... are happy that the American president has not yet decided what he is going to do. He has the opportunity to discuss these sanctions with us, considering European interests,” Gabriel said.

    “I am in very close contact with my American counterpart,” the German foreign …

  • German Foreign Ministry: The conflict in Ukraine won’t be resolved quickly

    Both the separatists and the Ukrainian military have violated the ceasefire agreement in the Donbas and it is not likely that the conflict will be resolved in the near future, according to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Germany, Sigmar Gabriel, as reported by Reuters.

    “It is very difficult to find a way out after so many years. Of course, we are trying, but it does not seem that we will have a short-term resolution of the crisis in the region,” said the head of MFA of Germany at a …

  • German Foreign Minister: Russia must implement Minsk Agreements for sanctions to be lifted

    The head of the Foreign Ministry of Germany said that the main condition for the lifting of sanctions against Russia would be for Russia to implement the Minsk agreements, Espresso TV reported.

    "During his visit to St. Petersburg at the international economic forum that is taking place there on June 1-3, Foreign Minister of Germany Sigmar Gabriel discussed the situation in Ukraine with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin," the German media reports.

    During his meeting with …

  • Germany and Russia want to bring the United States to the negotiating table over Ukraine

    The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Germany and Russia, Sigmar Gabriel and Sergey Lavrov favored the involvement of the United States in negotiations on settlement of the situation in the Donbas. They stated this after bilateral negotiations in Moscow, UNIAN reported.

    In particular, Gabriel said that the Federal Republic of Germany and Russia are seeking contact with a new U.S Administration but now it is difficult to find interlocutors there until they got everything settled.

    “As for eastern …

  • OSCE will increase number of observers in the conflict zone in Eastern Ukraine

    The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) plans to increase the number of observers for its Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, in order to strengthen its technical capacity and increase patrol hours along the contact line in the conflict zone. Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian Foreign Minister who currently holds the OSCE Chairmanship, made the announcement at a UN Security Council meeting.

    Kurz, who visited Ukraine in January, called the level of violence in the east of …

  • German Foreign Minister: Normandy Four format will not expand

    The “Normandy Four” format will not grow to accomodate the US, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel announced at the Munich Security Conference.

    According to him, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has agreed to maintain close contact with the “Four”, although there was no talk of expanding the format.

    The participants of the meeting – Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany – also came to the conclusion that implementation of the Minsk Agreements is the only way out of the conflict in the …