MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The head of the 28-nation bloc claimed that the Minsk peace agreement was not fully implemented in eastern Ukraine. Parties are lagging behind the schedule for the heavy weapons pullout, while international observers do not have full access to the conflict areas to monitor the peace process, Stoltenberg said.
"We have seen actions, we have seen economic sanctions from the United States, from the EU, from other countries, and I think it is important that we continue with the economic sanctions," Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels.
Sanctions against Russia’s key defense, energy and banking sectors of economy were imposed in 2014 following its reunification with Crimea and an armed conflict in the east of Ukraine, which has been blamed on Moscow.