German Foreign Minister Again Calls for Easing Anti-Russian Sanctions if UN Peacekeepers Are Deployed to Donbass

PRESS RELEASE

German Foreign Minister Again Calls for Easing Anti-Russian Sanctions if UN Peacekeepers Are Deployed to Donbass

Sept. 15, 2017 (EIRNS)—German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel once again said a stage-by-stage lifting of anti-Russian sanctions could begin if Russia agrees to the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Donbass. "I suggested long ago a phased lifting of sanctions in case of a gradual implementation of Minsk (agreements)," Spiegel Online quoted Gabriel as saying.

"It is simply unrealistic to say that first these agreements must be implemented 100%, and only then we will take steps. A stable and long-term ceasefire would be a major step. For that, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a proposal (about peacekeepers in Donbass) that reappraises the position he has adhered to up until now,"

the minister said.

"With this in view, an advice to us would be to respond to this initiative. Now we must promptly start talks in New York. If this [deployment of peacekeepers] succeeds, if it works out quickly, of course we should also take action and ease the sanctions."