French President Francois Hollande said that he regrets the sanctions against Russia and the deterioration of relations with the country.
Photo: Reuters / Philippe Wojazer
French President Francois Hollande said that he regrets the deterioration of relations with Russia. According to him, the lifting of sanctions is a general interest.
“Ukrainian crisis has influenced relations between Russia and European countries. In my opinion, the situation is regrettable because it is harmful to all sides, in particular, to joint economic projects, due to the sanctions. For this reason, we all are interested to find the best way out of this situation as soon as possible,” Hollande said, speaking to ambassadors at the annual conference of the French Foreign Ministry.
The politician noted that relations between France and Russia have always been close and reliable.
Hollande also expressed a hope that the high level of relations can be restored, noticing that Moscow must responsible approach to the resolution of crises, in particular, in Syria and Ukraine. According to the French President, he hopes for an early resumption of discussions in the Normandy format.
Relations between Russia and the West soured due to the situation in Ukraine. At the end of July 2014, the EU and the US imposed sanctions against entire sectors of the Russian economy. In response, Moscow restricted import of goods from countries, supporting restrictions.
According to the Minsk agreements, Kiev had to hold a constitutional reform before the end of 2015. Decentralization and adoption of a law on the special status of some districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions were supposed to become the main elements of the reform. However, Kiev has not yet fulfilled this part of the agreement.
The Kremlin representatives believe that it is an absurd to link the Western sanctions with implementation of the Minsk agreements, since Russia is not a side of the conflict and a subject of the agreements on the Ukrainian settlement.
