Slovak PM Fico Calls for Scrapping Sanctions as 'They Harm EU, Russia'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Friday once again called for the sanctions imposed on Russia to be lifted following his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on August 25.

"Personally, I think it is time to approach the matter of sanctions rationally and say that they harm the EU as well as Russia. [They] have brought absolutely nothing to the sensitive issue that they were supposed to influence," Fico wrote on his official Facebook account.

Putin and Fico had a meeting on Thursday and agreed that the Slovak-Russian Intergovernmental Committee would convene in the beginning of 2017.

Ties between Russia and the European Union suffered a severe blow after Crimea became part of Russia in 2014 and the West accused Moscow of meddling in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, imposing political and economical sanctions on Russia. The Kremlin has repeatedly refuted the accusations and introduced countermeasures, banning a list of EU products.

Several EU member states, including Slovakia, Greece, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary have expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of the restrictive measures against Russia.