BRISBANE, November 15 (Sputnik) — The Ukrainian crisis and the anti-Russian sanctions have a negative impact on all parties involved, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Francois Hollande said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, Saturday as cited by Russian president's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
"It was stressed that, in fact, all the parties are suffering from the situation in the southeast of Ukraine and the anti-Russian sanctions in force," Peskov said.
The conflict in Ukraine escalated in mid-April, when Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters in the country's southeastern regions. On September 5, during a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, the two sides agreed to a ceasefire.
The West has repeatedly accused Russia of getting involved in Ukraine's internal crisis and has imposed several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia.
Moscow has denied its involvement in the situation in Ukraine, stressing that sanctions are counterproductive and hurt not only the target country but also those using the restrictive measures.
