"The main goal should be to unite the European Union, Ukraine and Russia to end violence in eastern Ukraine, and have a prospect of stable future for the population in these regions," Emil Brix said.
"For us, the way out of sanctions is very clear – it is full implementation of Minsk agreements. We say that all sides must increase the efforts to realize this call and our president underlines that there is a contribution that the Russian Federation can make in this context," Brix said.
He noted that the implementation of the Minsk agreements was moving very slowly, but it was still vital for the removal of anti-Russia sanctions.
"Our president pointed out, and he made this point very consistently, that no one interested in good economic relations between Europe and Russia can be happy about any form of sanctions. But he also made very clear that there are very clear reasons why the sanctions were introduced," the ambassador said.
The Russian authorities have refuted the allegations, warning that the Western sanctions are counterproductive. In response to the Western restrictive measures, in August 2014, Russia announced a one-year food embargo on some products originating in states that imposed sanctions against it. The ban has since been extended for another year.
