All sanctions against Russia can be canceled only if the Minsk agreements are implemented in full, however sectoral sanctions can be weakened if there are clear signs of the transition of the conflict in Donbas from military into a purely political level, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia Miroslav Lajcak has said.

"I think it is important to link the duration of the sanctions with the full implementation of the Minsk agreements – as such an interrelation increases the importance of the applied sanctions in ensuring security and stability in the region. In revising the sanctions regime against Russia, the EU will need to consider the specific progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements, and Russia's steps on their implementation," Lajcak said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine on Tuesday.

He recalled that the European Union gradually adopted a series of restrictive measures against Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine: individual sanctions as a reaction to the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, sectoral sanctions as a reaction to the illegal annexation of Crimea, already mentioned sectoral sanctions as a reaction to the destabilization of eastern Ukraine, as well as the sanctions for the embezzlement of the Ukrainian public funds.

The minister said that the sanctions are, above all, an instrument of EU policy. "To this end, the EU leaders have linked these sectoral sanctions with the full implementation of the Minsk Agreement. It is this connection which enhances the value of sanctions in ensuring security and stability in the region. Therefore, logically, the complete lifting of sanctions is possible when the reasons for their application cease to exist," he said.

"On the other hand, the gradual weakening of the sectoral sanctions linked to the Minsk process can be considered if the EU shares the general view that the conflict in Donbas has switched from a military into a purely political level," Lajcak said.