"No matter how much they [sanctions] damage us, sooner or later they will end… In particular they may change after the upcoming elections in the leading EU countries of France and Germany," Morin said during a meeting with Konstantin Kosachev, the head of the Russian Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee, in Moscow.
He expressed hope that France would have a new president as a result of the elections.
"We would like to hope that next year presidential power in France changes. Any possibility that the incumbent president [Francois Hollande] will stay in his office is practically out of question," Morin added.
French officials and businesses have repeatedly called for the lifting of the EU sanctions imposed on Russia over Crimea's reunification with it. In April, the French National Assembly adopted a resolution calling on the government to protest the extension of EU sanctions against Russia.
