MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Commenting on the stance that Europe might take with regard to the issue, Leonid Slutsky said in the interview to the Rossiya 24 television channel, "Probably, Europe will propose buying coal from Russia, improving relations with Russia."
Slutsky added that the present situation was very complicated in terms of logistics, as some sections of freight railroad links are blocked, but the political situation was even more difficult.
The possibility that the European Council would move toward reviewing the undue anti-Russia sanctions in the near future should not be ruled out, Slutsky stressed.
The disruption in coal supplies resulted from the January move by a group of former participants of Ukraine's military operation in Donbas, including Ukrainian lawmakers, who blocked on some sections of freight railroad links with areas in Donbas not controlled by Kiev.
Kiev launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) in 2014, when the two regions refused to recognize the new Ukrainian government that came to power in what they perceive to be a coup. The sides to the conflict continue to exchange fire, despite the ceasefire deal, reached in Minsk in February 2015 and brokered by the so-called Normandy Format comprising Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine.
