BERLIN, June 1. /TASS/. German Chancellor Angela Merkel so far sees no reason to cancel or mitigate the sanctions against Russia imposed over the Ukrainian crisis, this depends on the implementation of the Minsk agreements, deputy spokesperson for the German government Christiane Wirtz told a press briefing on Wednesday.
"The German government believes it is important, above all, to make progress in the implementation of the Minsk (agreements). We are waiting for the results, there is no time to be lost. There are still some points that need to be complied with," she said.
"In view of this, from the standpoint of the chancellor, there is no reason to think about the cancellation of the sanctions," Wirtz added. She noted that the decision on restrictive measures had been taken by the entire European Union.
For his part, German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer has said that the recent proposals made by Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the possibility of easing the sanctions stage by stage "are not contrary to the final document adopted by the Group of Seven (which agreed on the extension of sanctions)".