MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Zeman has repeatedly called for the sanctions removal and reiterated that the restrictions would be short-term.
"I have always been against [sanctions]. [The European Union] not only should not prolong [the sanctions], but it should not have introduced [them]. [The sanctions] have to be canceled now, not in the future," Zeman told the Russian Izvestia newspaper in an interview.
15 February 2016, 14:18 GMT
The president added that Russia and its partners should persuade the bloc of the necessity to remove the restrictions.
Relations between Russia and European Union deteriorated amid a 2014 crisis in Ukraine. The bloc and its allies have introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions, accusing Moscow of meddling in the Ukrainian conflict.
