WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The European Union recently agreed to extend sanctions against Russia for six months.
"When I went to Moscow, I said to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, ‘If you want this, it’s easy. If you go forward you will see we will open the way to a possible, gradual lifting of sanctions.’ Why not?" Ayrault stated on Thursday.
Ayrault, speaking through an interpreter, said he often questions which nation — Russia or Ukraine — is responsible for maintaining what he called the status-quo.
The extension, Ayrault explained, came when the EU member states realized that "nothing had changed enough to lift the sanctions."
The foreign minister concluded by saying that France is always ready to dialogue with Russia how to end the sanctions.
