Reports of London's alleged easing of sanctions against the Russian Federation are yet another Russian insinuations, spokesperson of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleh Nikolenko said.

"Russian media are circulating 'news' about Britain's 'easing' of the sanctions regime against Crimea. In fact, this is wishful thinking," Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.

He said that on January 1, 2021, the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union. As no longer an EU member state, the United Kingdom has started the process of transferring European sanctions regimes, including those in the Russian Federation, into its own national legislation.

"The general license of the British Ministry of Finance for the seaports of Crimea reproduced the sanctions deviation from the EU Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP. Such a deviation has existed since 2017. And before it was possible to make payments for the fundamental needs in the Crimean seaports, in particular the purchase of food, medicines, payment for treatment. We are not talking about any other innovations," the spokesperson said.

He said that on January 1, 2021, a strategic partnership agreement between Ukraine and the UK came into force.

"The United Kingdom remains one of the most powerful and most consistent partners of Ukraine in the world, continues to provide significant political and practical support to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state in the context of countering Russian aggression. The United Kingdom is also one of the world leaders in introducing and maintaining international sanctions against Therefore, we consider reports of allegedly easing of sanctions against Russia by London as another Russian insinuations," Nikolenko said.

The information about the alleged "easing" of sanctions against the Russian Federation was also denied by British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons.

"The UK is committed to territorial integrity of Ukraine and to upholding sanctions on Russia for its illegal annexation of Crimea. Reports that the British sanctions against Crimea have been relaxed are incorrect," Simmons wrote on Twitter on Thursday.