France: EU-Russia sanctions 'must stop now'

BRUSSELS - French leader Francois Hollande i has dangled the prospect of lifting EU sanctions on Russia ahead of the year’s first Ukraine crisis summit.

"I think the sanctions must stop now. They must be lifted if there is progress. If there is no progress the sanctions will remain”, he said on France Inter radio on Monday (5 January).

“[Russian president] Mr Putin i doesn’t want to annex eastern Ukraine. He’s told me that … what he wants is to remain influential. What he wants is for Ukraine not to fall into the Nato camp”, he added, referring to his impromptu meeting with Putin at a Moscow airport in December.

Hollande spoke on France Inter for two hours in a Q&A dominated by French economic problems.

His remarks come ahead of a summit of French, German, Russian, and Ukrainian leaders - the so-called Normandy format - in Kazakhstan on 15 January.

They also come ahead of EU foreign ministers’ talks in Brussels four days later on whether to renew Russia sanctions when they begin to expire in March.

At the same time, Moscow has called for new EU talks on trade co-operation with the Eurasian Economic Union.

The New Year diplomacy is also set to see Putin go to the Czech Republic and to Poland for a World War II memorial on 27 January.

Hungarian media report he might visit Budapest in March and Russia has invited select EU leaders to attend a WWII military parade in Moscow on 9 May.

Foreign ministry officials from the Normandy states met in Berlin on Monday to prepare for the Kazakhstan event.

But both Hollande and German chancellor Angela Merkel i have said they won't go if there is no chance of a breakthrough.

"I will go to Astana on January 15 on one condition, which is that there should be a possibility of making new progress. If it's just to meet and talk without making any actual advances then there's no point. But I think there will be progress”, Hollande told France Inter.

Actions, not words

Commentators in Russian media, such as RT, said his remarks mean Russia is off the hook for annexing Crimea and that France is keen to resume delivery of two warships to Russia.

Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, the German centre-left SPD party, and EU foreign relations chief Federica Mogherini i have also said they want to re-engage with Russia.

But a US state department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said in Washington on Monday that Hollande’s words say nothing new.

“Hollande said sanctions would be lifted if, quote, ‘progress is made’ toward a lasting peace. This has been our position, as well as the position of our European and other partners from the very beginning”, she noted.

“If Russia and the separatists implement the commitments each party made in Minsk [at ceasefire talks in September], we’ll be in a position to begin a rollback of some of the sanctions. But there can be no rollback until there is tangible progress on the ground … It’s not just simply words. It’s actions”.

A spokeswoman for the EU foreign service, Catherine Ray, the same day said there is no change in the EU position as spelled out in summit conclusions in December.

“The EU will stay the course. The European Council is ready to take further steps [against Russia] if necessary”, the conclusions say.

WWII diplomacy

Meanwhile, Latvian foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics - whose country took over the rotating EU presidency on 1 January - urged EU leaders not to break ranks.

Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania - former Soviet republics which host Russian-speaking minorities - fear that if Putin gets away with partitioning Ukraine he will cause trouble in the Baltic states in future.

WWII memorials are said to be sacrosanct from contemporary disputes, but end up turning into informal summits.

Asked on Monday whether the Latvian president would go to Moscow for the 9 May parade, Rinkevics told Latvian broadcaster 900 Sekundes: “At the moment, I would really like to see the EU take a joint position. Before any decisions are made, the EU ought to discuss this matter”.