Russia will not ask EU to lift sanctions — Lavrov

MOSCOW, March 10. /TASS/. Russia has no intention to ask the European Union to lift sanctions, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday after talks with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.

"We did not discuss sanctions, they [sanctions] were not our choice. We are not going to persuade or ask our European friends about anything. Life will arrange everything back to order," Lavrov said.

Sanctions against Russia are very harmful for the Spanish economy, Garcia-Margallo said. "of course, sanctions inflict great damage to the Spanish economy," he said. "We have big losses, especially in the agriculture sector," the minister added.

According to Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, the Minsk agreements are observed, and there are no grounds to expand sanctions against Russia.

"The Minsk agreements are observed, good news come, weaponry is being withdrawn," the minister said. "So, I do not see [reasons for] expanding sanctions," he noted.

"Keeping or lifting sanctions depends on whether the agreements on Ukraine are being implemented or not. They [sanctions] are beneficial for no one," the minister stressed.

However, Kiev authorities are braking the fulfilment of the Minsk agreements, possibly in the hope to drag out the agreed political reforms, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went on to say.

"Kiev authorities are strongly refusing to fulfil the clause on the creation of the working groups, agreed by the ‘Normandy quartet’, refuse to reach an agreement on the local elections in the [self-proclaimed] DPR and LPR [republics]," he said.

"Moreover, Kiev seeks in every possible way to hamper the work of the Contact Group itself, apparently in a bid to create tension, put into question the fulfilment of the military points of the agreement and thus drag out the political reforms," Lavrov said.