HAMBURG (Sputnik) – Anti-Russian sanctions are due to expire in Januar 2017.
"We are again facing the question what to do with the sanctions. They will expire in late January. Before that time, a decision on the EU level must be made and the German role is to strive for consensus. If Europe fails to reach consensus on the policy toward Russia, the European Union will lose its sense," Erler said on the sidelines of the 23rd Ministerial Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Hamburg, Germany.
Since 2014, relations between Russia and the West deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. The United States, the European Union and their allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russian sanctions since Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 and over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.
Russia has repeatedly refuted the allegations, warning that the Western sanctions are counterproductive and undermine global stability.
