True in force

Permanent representatives of the countries of the European Union upheld the sanctions against Russia. It is reported by Reuters with reference to European officials. At the same time, one of the interlocutors of the agency noted that there was no talk of the abolition of sanctions in principle.

ITAR-TASS, also referring to a certain European source, confirms Reuters. It was not supposed to discuss at the last meeting the abolition of sanctions from the very beginning, the official explained. “His (meetings. - Ed.) The task was to evaluate the situation in Ukraine,” he said. “So far we can state only the preservation of unstable balance.”

The issue of lifting sanctions can only be considered by the EU summit, the interlocutor of ITAR-TASS also told, since it was the Sanction Summit that introduced. The nearest European Union summit will be held on October 23-24.

It was on September 30 that Kommersant wrote about the possibility of starting the revision of the sanctions at a meeting of the Permanent Representatives. It was claimed to get acquainted with the report of the EU foreign policy on the implementation of the Minsk agreements regarding the ceasefire in the east of Ukraine, the permanent representative will decide on further actions.

At the same time, the interlocutor of the publication reported that the sanctions imposed after the annexation of Crimea will remain in force "even when the situation in the Donbass."

Since March 17, the EU introduced nine packages of sanctions against Russia. The sanctions list included 119 individuals and 23 legal entities. In addition, restrictive measures were introduced in relation to the energy, financial and defense sectors.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, after negotiations with Finland Prime Minister Alexander Stubb in Berlin, said that so far there is no reason to mitigate sanctions against Russia. According to Deutsche Welle , the chancellor recalled that the sanctions were imposed after the annexation of Crimea. No signs of changing the position of Russia in this matter are observed, she emphasized. In addition, the situation in the east of Ukraine is "not satisfactory."

Another condition for mitigating sanctions is to hold free elections in the region, Merkel noted. It is also necessary to guarantee the absence of "further claims in the territory in Russia."

Germany and the whole European Union may have to revise its long -term and medium -term energy policy with Russia, the Chancellor said. However, this will happen only if the situation in Ukraine worsens. Merkel noted that the EU countries largely depend on energy supplies from Russia.

Earlier, the official representative of the Federal Republic of Germany Martin Schaefer also stated that the European Union would be left unchanged by sanction against Russia. “Everything will remain the same as it was agreed and accepted at the European level,” he said. “We have not yet reached a point when we could say that we can weaken our efforts.” Depending on the development of events in the Donbass, both further tightening of the penalty measures and the abolition of previous restrictions are possible. According to Schaefer, Moscow should also participate in the implementation of a peaceful plan in the east of Ukraine. The decision at the EU countries will be made after a more accurate analysis of the situation, he emphasized.