Updated 7:08 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) – The United States President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that the country would lift the sanctions imposed on Russia in case it chooses a peaceful course in Ukraine.
“A different path is available. It is the path of diplomacy and peace. The recent ceasefire agreement in Ukraine offers this path,” Obama said in his address to the UN General Assembly.
“We will lift Russian sanctions and accept Russian role” in international affairs if Moscow changes its stance on the Ukrainian crisis, the US President said.
“That’s what the United States and Russia have been able to do in past years – from reducing our nuclear stockpiles to meet our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to cooperating to remove and destroy Syria’s declared chemical weapons. And that’s the kind of cooperation we are prepared to pursue again — if Russia changes course,” Obama underlined.
The United States has ratcheted up sanctions on Russia earlier this month accusing it of playing a negative role in the Ukrainian crisis, in particular providing militia in Luhansk and Donetsk regions with military assistance. Russia has repeatedly denied the unfounded accusations.
Meanwhile, Moscow played a vital role in the de-escalation of the Ukrainian crisis. Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a peace plan to resolve the conflict two days before Kiev and the eastern regions of Ukraine reached a ceasefire agreement on September 5 in Minsk.
