BRUSSELS, November 5 (RIA Novosti) – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday European sanctions against Russia are likely to remain on the same level.
“My impression is that the sanctions we have will remain where and as they are,” he told reporters.
Since March, the European Union, the United States and their partners have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia over the country's alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis, while Moscow has repeatedly stated that Russia is not a party to the Ukrainian internal conflict.
Earlier in September, several European businessmen and politicians said that it would be reasonable to cancel the anti-Russian sanctions, as the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was holding and all the conflicting sides were sticking to the Minsk agreements reached at the Contact Group meeting on September 5.
However, Russia's approval of the elections in Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR, LPR) held on November 2, has been seen by the EU as going against the Minsk agreements. On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she sees no reasons to lift the sanctions now.
On Sunday, the DPR and the LPR held general and parliamentary elections, which Kiev and the West have called illegitimate.
Russia said it recognizes the results and emphasized that condemning them would undermine efforts to reach a peace settlement in Ukraine.
