EU leaders agree to uphold Russia sanctions, US says

The US has said leaders meeting in Germany agreed to keep sanctions on Russia unless it stops the war in Ukraine, as French MPs prepare to debate a motion on lifting the measures.

The White House statement after the meeting in the Schloss Herrenhausen in Hannover, Germany, on Monday (25 April) said: “On Ukraine, leaders reiterated their rejection of Russia’s occupation and attempted annexation of the Crimea.”

“There was agreement that full implementation of the Minsk agreements remained crucial. The leaders reiterated that sanctions against Russia would be lifted if the Minsk agreements were fully implemented,” it added.

Implementation of the Minsk accord would force Russian troops out of Ukraine and restore Ukraine’s control of its borders in return for semi-autonomy for Russia-occupied regions.

The British statement said: “On Russia/Ukraine, they agreed on the importance of continuing to encourage Russia to behave responsibly and in accordance with international law, and to fully implement Minsk.”

The German statement spoke only of “concern … on the situation in Ukraine.” The French and Italian leaders also attended the meeting but did not issue statements.

Earlier in the day, US president Barack Obama i in a speech also said “we need to keep sanctions on Russia in place” until it stops the war.

He also told the CBS broadcaster that Russian leader is trying to exploit the refugee crisis to divide Europe.

He spoke of “the strain it [the crisis] is putting on Europe's politics, the way that it advances far-right nationalism, the degree to which it is encouraging a break-up of European unity, that in some cases, is being exploited by somebody like Mr. Putin i.”

He added: “I’ve indicated to him that, in fact, a strong, unified Europe working with a strong, outward-looking Russia, that's the right recipe. So far, he has not been entirely persuaded.”

German chancellor Angela Merkel i and British PM David Cameron i have been staunch advocates of a tough line on Russia alongside the US.

French president Francois Hollande i has voiced more interest in a rapprochement, while Italian PM Matteo Renzi i, who often meets Putin, has been more reluctant to toe the line.

EU leaders will decide whether to extend the economic measures, which expire in July, at their regular summit in June.

Their diplomats have yet to start discussions in the EU Council in Brussels. But debate is already flaring at the national level.

Merkel’s coalition partner, the centre-left SPD party, has said there’s a need for better dialogue with Russia and voiced interest in restoring its membership in the G8 group of world powers.

More than eighty French MPs, primarily from the centre-right Les Republicans party (LR), have also tabled a non-binding resolution that urges Hollande to scrap the measures.

The motion, which was tabled by Thierry Mariani, a leading Russia sympathiser in the LR party, bemoan the cost of Russian counter-sanctions on French farmers and the loss of French arms sales to Russia.

It also says the sanctions have proved “totally ineffective” on Ukraine and that France needs to cooperate with Russia to defeat the Islamic State jihadist group.

Speaking to Russia’s Tass news agency, Mariani said the resolution will be debated on Thursday (28 April).

Speaking also to the Izvestia daily, Alexei Pushkov, the chair of the Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said: “I've just received a delegation of German Social Democrats who are members of the [parliamentary] international relations committee and they told me, among other things, their party opposes sanctions against members of parliament.”

“We've [also] been told by Greeks, Cypriots, Italians, Austrians, and the French the sanctions against members of parliaments run counter to the principles of democracy and European parliamentarianism,” he added.