MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Brussels currently sees no reason or necessity to expand the “Crimean sanctions” against Moscow, European Union Ambassador to Russia Vygaudas Usackas said.
“I currently don’t see the necessity or any reasons,” Usackas told RIA Novosti in an interview in regard to the possible extension of sanctions against Moscow that were originally imposed after Crimea was reunified with Russia.
Vygaudas Usackas also stated that the EU calls on Russia and Ukraine to hold constructive negotiations over the repayment of Kiev’s $3-billion loan and to solve the situation as soon as possible.
Crimea seceded from Ukraine to rejoin Russia in March 2014 following a referendum in which 96 percent of residents voted in favor of reunification with Russia.
The West has refused to recognize the results of the referendum and imposed an economic embargo against Crimea in 2014, which included a ban on investment in its economy and restrictive measures targeting Crimean individuals and companies.
Russia called the measures counterproductive and imposed a food import embargo against the countries that sanctioned it.
“This is an issue of bilateral relations. As you correctly noted, the EU is in contact with both the Russian and Ukrainian partners. We call on both sides to hold constructive negotiations in the spirit of cooperation and solve this bilateral issue as soon as possible, after reaching an agreement in the near future that would comply with the conditions of the [International Monetary Fund’s] program for Ukraine,” Usackas said.
“No one is interested in Ukraine defaulting. Just the opposite, it’s in our interests that Ukraine’s economy is stable, transparent and competitive. We favor the continuation of constructive talks in order to find a way out of the situation,” Usackas added.
Ukraine owes Russia $3 billion in Eurobonds. The debt was secured in 2013 by the government of then-President Viktor Yanukovych. Moscow has repeatedly stated that Kiev's inability to pay back the debt by December 20 will mean a default.
Ukraine missed the deadline, and the Russian Finance Ministry announced that Ukraine had defaulted and that it was still expecting Kiev to fulfill in full its debt obligations until the expiration of the grace period on December 31.
Last week, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Kiev had introduced a moratorium on the repayment of Ukraine's $3-billion loan to Russia.
The European Union hopes that Russia will not suspend its CIS-based free trade zone agreement with Kiev once Ukraine enters the EU free trade agreement on January 1, according to Vygaudas Usackas.
Usackas noted that “the decree that was signed on December 16 of this year to suspend the CIS free trade zone agreement with Ukraine has added an element of political pressure and contradicts conditions included in the Minsk declaration of holding trilateral consultations.”
EU Ambassador to Russia Vygaudas Usackas said that the European Union is putting pressure on Kiev to adhere to the Minsk peace agreements.
"Russian politicians often accuse us, the EU, of only pressuring Moscow, rather than Kiev. But if you raise this question in Kiev, I think the Ukrainian leader and local politicians will tell you that the EU is just as actively urging and exerting pressure on Kiev, and not just Moscow, to implement the Minsk deals," Usackas stated.
