MOSCOW, November 20 (Sputnik) — Security in Europe can be ensured only together with the Russian Federation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday.
“Only together with Russia we can ensure security in Europe,” Merkel said at a ceremony she attended together with Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz in the Polish town of Krzyzowa.
“For us, sanctions are not a goal in themselves… We need to establish a dialogue with Russia,” Merkel added.
Over the past few months, the European Union, the United States and their allies have implemented several rounds of sanctions against Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis — a claim Moscow has repeatedly denied. The sanctions particularly targeted the Russian economy's defense, energy and banking sectors.
Earlier in September, several European businessmen and politicians said that it would be reasonable to cancel the anti-Russian sanctions, as the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was holding and all the conflicting sides were sticking to the Minsk agreements reached at the Contact Group meeting on September 5.
However, Russia's stance on the elections in Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR, LPR) held on November 2, was seen by the EU as contradiction of the Minsk agreements. Following the elections, Angela Merkel said that at the moment she sees no reasons to lift the sanctions against Russia.
