The Ukrainian foreign Ministry criticized Germany for its offer to lift sanctions against Russia
The Minister of foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin in an interview with the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung criticized the proposal of the foreign Minister of Germany Sigmar Gabriel about the gradual lifting of sanctions against Russia after the ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine and withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line.
“Such signals are very harmful. Recent statements can only be viewed as flirting with the Kremlin,” — said Klimkin newspaper. He also demanded “a United position of the world community up until the last Russian soldier left the territory of Ukraine”.
Deputy head of the presidential administration of Ukraine Konstantin Eliseev in conversation with the edition called the idea of Gabriel about the lifting of sanctions similar to the policy of the Western powers against Adolf Hitler and the territorial claims of Nazi Germany in 1938.
On Tuesday, Gabriel said that the deployment of UN peacekeepers on the contact line in the Donbass can contribute to the abolition of anti-Russian sanctions. “If we’ve got the “blue helmets”, it would be the first significant step towards the abolition of restrictive measures against Moscow”, — said the head of the German foreign Ministry. He noted that in this case, could begin “a new phase of the policy of detente” with Russia.
The same day Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Ministry of foreign Affairs to submit to the UN security Council resolution on the deployment of peacekeepers international organizations on the frontline in the Donbass. According to the Russian leader, it is necessary to ensure the safety of OSCE staff.
Meanwhile, Putin said that the deployment of “blue helmets” is possible only after removal of the arms and when reaching agreement on this issue with representatives of the breakaway republics of Donbass.