At a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsirpas said Western sanctions against Russia were unproductive.

"We have repeatedly said that the vicious circle of militarization, of Cold War rhetoric and of sanctions is not productive. The solution is dialogue,” Tsirpas said.

At the same time Putin noted that during his meeting with Tsirpas, the annexation of the Crimea will not be discussed because “the matter is closed forever.”

“Russia will …

The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, stated on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Japan that G7 countries want to preserve sanctions against Russia, Finanznachrichten.de reported. “As for me, it is too early to talk about lifting or easing of sanctions,” Merkel said. 

“We should do everything in our power to make progress in the political settlement in the coming weeks. There are no large-scale hostilities but there is no stable truce either,” the Chancellor of Germany stated, adding that …

Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas stated in an interview with Die Welt that the key to the implementation of the Minsk Agreements is in Putin’s hands. "The restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity is an integral part of the Minsk agreements. But obviously, this is not happening,” he noted.

Rõivas emphasized that "It is Putin who is holding the key for this [implementation of the Minsk Agreements]. In my view, Russia should take two steps back if they want to continue to sit at the …