Swedish Foreign Ministry: Sanctions on Russia will not be lifted until the Crimea is returned to Ukraine
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Margot Wallström, stated in an interview with Dozhd that European sanctions imposed against Russia will be maintained as long as the Crimea remains under Russian control.
“Our sanctions, the decision on which was made by the European Union, were imposed due to the events that took place in the Crimea… The territory was illegally taken from another European country. This is prohibited by the European security policy,” Wallström said.
“Our sanctions will be maintained as long as the Crimea is annexed,” the Foreign Minister added. On 21st of February 2017, Margot Wallström visited Moscow to meet with her counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden noted that Sweden is ready to cooperate with Russia in other areas. The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, previously stated that the European Union plans to change the sanctions policy toward the Russian Federation.