EU Should Lift Anti-Russia Sanctions as Soon as Possible - Czech President

The European Union should remove sanctions from Russia not in distant future but as soon as possible, Czech President Milos Zeman said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Zeman has repeatedly called for the sanctions removal and reiterated that the restrictions would be short-term.

"I have always been against [sanctions]. [The European Union] not only should not prolong [the sanctions], but it should not have introduced [them]. [The sanctions] have to be canceled now, not in the future," Zeman told the Russian Izvestia newspaper in an interview.

The president added that Russia and its partners should persuade the bloc of the necessity to remove the restrictions.

Relations between Russia and European Union deteriorated amid a 2014 crisis in Ukraine. The bloc and its allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions, accusing Moscow of meddling in the Ukrainian conflict.