EU sanctions against Russia will be reviewed at the end of October – RBC

EU sanctions against Russia will be reviewed at the end of October. This was announced by the head of the EU delegation in Moscow Vygaudas Usackas, Interfax reports.

He said that a decision on sanctions will be taken depending on the stabilization of the south-east of Ukraine, monitoring and control of the OSCE border. “The most important thing was to progress to stabilize the situation, to satisfy the Minsk agreement,” – said the diplomat.

On the eve of Ushatskas gave an interview to RBC, in which he stated that the EU sanctions against Russia are not infinite, and not an end in itself. “The sanctions are not aimed at ordinary citizens of Russia, their goal – to change the decisions and actions of the Russian government on the conflict in the Ukraine”, – he said. He also noted that the main condition for the lifting of sanctions is the practical implementation of the Memorandum of Minsk.

Last week, the deputy national security adviser in the administration of the United States, Tony Blinken said that talks on easing of sanctions against Russia may start in the coming weeks. He also said that it depends on the progress in the reconciliation in the Ukraine. Blinken said that while in Minsk and arrangements have been made, the sanctions against Russia would not be weakened if the agreement will not be implemented in practice.

The negotiators of the contact group on Ukraine in Minsk on September 20 signed the final memorandum, agreeing on the main issues of the armistice. The parties have agreed to withdraw troops and heavy weapons by both parties to the conflict, the withdrawal from the conflict zone of mercenaries and other issues.