EU won't remove sanctions against Russia until all provisions of Minsk agreements are met – Luxembourgish PM
Prime Minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel has said that the EU sanctions against Russia will either be strengthened or eased depending on the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
"Twenty-eight EU member states have one shared view of the situation: should the Minsk agreements not implemented, new sanctions would follow; if they have been implemented, then we will be discussing other issues… But President Poroshenko, the Ukrainian side must fulfill their obligations too," Bettel told a joint press conference with the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, in Kyiv on Thursday.
He pointed out that to date the ceasefire has been observed in Donbas. "But the ceasefire is only a component of the Minsk agreements. If we move in the right direction, then, perhaps, we won't have to talk of any new sanctions. We need to implement all other conditions as well," Bettel said.
Bettel emphasized the importance of implementation of the entire Package of the Minsk agreements when considering the matter of sanctions against Russia. "If only one condition is implemented, we cannot lift the sanctions because these sanctions are the result of consideration of the whole situation. And if we consider the entire context, then we must use all opportunities. And this is nit just my opinion, this is a consolidated position [of the European Union]," he explained.
Bettel also said that EU will have to react accordingly to the implementation of the Minsk agreements, "but for today, the situation around observation of the truce is very frail and it is difficult to say what kind of decision we will make on December 31".
Luxembourg currently holds Presidency of the Council of the European Union.