Progress in resolving eastern Ukraine conflict ‘not enough’ to remove sanctions against Russia – Merkel

Progress has been achieved in resolving the conflict in Donbass but there is still no reason to remove sanctions on Russia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a press conference following a European Union summit on Friday.

Together with French President Emmanuel Macron, she informed the summit’s participants of the outcome of the ‘Normandy Four’ meeting on the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which was held in Paris on December 9. “We said that some progress had been achieved but it wasn’t enough for us to remove sanctions,” TASS quoted Merkel as saying.

At a meeting in Brussels on Thursday, EU leaders agreed to extend economic sanctions against Russia for another six months, until the end of July 2020, officials said. The EU imposed sanctions on Moscow in 2014 over the situation in Ukraine.

At the ‘Normandy Four’ summit this week, the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany reaffirmed their commitment to implementing a comprehensive ceasefire in Donbass before the end of 2019. They also voiced support for a plan to carry out the disengagement of forces in three more areas in Donbass by the end of March 2020 and conduct an all-for-all prisoner exchange before 2019 ends.