Key Takeaways
- Germany will continue to support the introduction of new EU sanctions against Russia.
- The EU sanctions against Russia are necessary to address the harm caused to Europeans.
- The Kremlin has agreed to the Black Sea initiative, but several conditions must be met first, including the lifting of sanctions from the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank).
Moscow: Germany will keep supporting the introduction of new EU sanctions against Russia, German government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said on Monday.
On March 29, Michael Kretschmer, the prime minister of Saxony, Germany, stated that it was necessary to discuss the easing of EU sanctions against Russia, which he argued were harming Europeans.
“We have always supported EU sanctions and will do so in the future,” Hoffmann told a briefing, answering a reporter’s question regarding Kretschmer’s statement.
Hoffmann also said that she considers the sanctions imposed against Russia following the outbreak of the Ukrainian conflict to be “justified, sensible and effective.”
On Thursday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the European Union would maintain sanctions against Russia.
Last week, US negotiators had separate talks with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office released a statement following the talks, announcing Kiev’s readiness to accept the proposal for a 30-day Black Sea ceasefire with Russia and the end of strikes on energy infrastructure facilities, with possible extensions subject to mutual agreement. The Kremlin said that Moscow had agreed to the Black Sea initiative, but several conditions should be met first, one of which is the lifting of sanctions from the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank).
