In a speech on Thursday at the St. Petersburg Forum, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Russia’s annexation of Crimea put relations between the EU and Russian Federation to a “severe test”.
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However, he made a point of confirming the EU’s stance that it does not accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea and insisted the Minsk peace accord for Ukraine needs to be fulfilled for the sanctions to be lifted.
At the same time, the 28-nation bloc could not simply keep renewing the sanctions automatically without proper discussion, he added, on the sidelines of an European Union foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.
The EU has also imposed a separate set of visa ban and asset freeze sanctions against individual Russian and Ukrainian figures for backing the separatist cause in early 2014.
The diplomats said that at least one country must first have the move endorsed by its parliament, so it can not go ahead until that is done, probably by the end of next week. In June, the French Senate nearly unanimously voted in favor of a resolution for a “gradual relief” of the restrictive measures.
European oil, auto and food companies have suffered from the sanctions.
Other leaders across Europe have said the sanctions damage mutual trade, harm businesses and result in minimal political outcomes.
Tuesday’s approved sanctions were initially imposed following the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014, an attack blamed on pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine.
The EU was reacting to the increase of hostilities in the east of Ukraine between the country’s regular army and heavily armed separatists backed by Russia, which saw the downing of a passenger flight by a Buk anti-aircraft missile, allegedly fired by a fighting vehicle provided by the Russian army.
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The sanctions include prohibition to import to EU goods from Crimea and Sevastopol; invest in Crimea or Sevastopol; tourist services in Crimea and Sevastopol (in particular European cruise ships can not enter the Crimean ports); export of certain goods and technologies to Crimea (in particular transport, telecommunications and energy).
