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EU may begin lifting sanctions off Russia after UN mission is deployed in Donbass

Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on sidelines of the Munich Security Conference

Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel EPA-EFE/CLEMENS BILAN

Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel

© EPA-EFE/CLEMENS BILAN

MUNICH, February 17. /TASS/. The European Union may begin a gradual lifting of the sanctions off Russia, if the idea of the UN mission to Donbass is implemented, Germany’s Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.

"We must achieve ceasefire in Ukraine," he said. "I consider as correct the idea of the Russian president about the ‘blue helmets’."

"If this is done, we shall begin lifting gradually the sanctions," the minister added.

On December 14, 2017, while addressing his annual news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow did not have any objections to bringing Donbass under international control, provided Kiev held direct talks with the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR). Putin pointed out that Russia had submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on deploying UN forces to Donbass in order to protect OSCE Special Monitoring Mission’s observers.

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