Media Expose EU Rift Over Russia Sanctions As Leaders Meet in Brussels

© AP Photo / Virginia MayoEU headquarters in Brussels
EU headquarters in Brussels - Sputnik International
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European Parliament President Martin Schulz stated that the European Union must stand against Russian President Vladimir Putin's attempt to split the EU and to influence it from the inside.

European Council President Donald Tusk - Sputnik International
EU Should Uphold Anti-Russia Sanctions to Support Ukraine - Tusk
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Several EU media outlets have acknowledged a divide over anti-Russia sanctions running across the 28-nation bloc, whose leaders are meeting in Brussels for a major summit.

In an interview with the Zeit newspaper, European Parliament President Martin Schulz, of Germany, warned the 28-nation union against splitting over their stance on Russia, as the EU appears to be cracking at the seams.

"We must stand united against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's attempt to split the EU and to influence it from the inside," Schulz said, citing France's Front National, a right-wing party which he said is seeking Putin's backing. The EU parliament chief blamed the divide on Russia's effective media campaign.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel - Sputnik International
Lifting Sanctions Against Russia Premature at Present Stage - Merkel
The issue of European sanctions against Moscow is expected to dominate the two-day EU summit on Thursday and Friday. The economic restrictions on Russia's energy, defense and banking sectors are currently scheduled to end in July 2015.

Speaking ahead of the EU summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel linked the lifting of sanctions to the implementation of the ceasefire deal in Ukraine, agreed on by Russia, Ukraine and two EU leaders in Belarus in February.

According to France's Les Echos newspaper, the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has prompted Italy and Spain to call for an end to anti-Russia sanctions, while the United Kingdom and United States are urging to prolong them.

The Telegraph confirmed on Thursday that the European Union appears to be split on whether to ease anti-Russia sanctions, with Britain being among the so-called hawks who want the sanctions to stay in place for effectively another year. The economic batch of sanctions was declared in July 2014.

Moscow hopes that while the European Union reviews possible new sanctions against Russia next week that “common sense will prevail.” - Sputnik International
EU Unlikely to Lift Anti-Russia Sanctions Despite Lack of Consensus
The paper cited an unnamed UK official as saying that Britain wants the bloc to show a united front against Moscow until the Minsk deal is "fully implemented." Some of its long-term provisions are expected to come into force only by the end of 2015.

Ties between Russia and the European Union have soured over the past year after Brussels introduced several rounds of sanctions against Moscow over its alleged interference in the Ukraine crisis.

This move has created a rift in the European Union, with officials in Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic voicing their skepticism of its efficiency.

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