Brussels, 05/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - The foreign affairs ministers of Ukraine, the Russian Federation, France and Germany are to meet in the afternoon of Friday 6 November to discuss the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Progress has been noted on implementation of the Minsk agreements, and the issue of reviewing the EU's sanctions against Russia is becoming increasingly urgent.
This new meeting, which this time will take place in Germany, was announced by the German foreign ministry on Wednesday 4 November. The ministry's spokesperson, Sawsan Chebli, said that she wanted to underline that progress can be noted in the resolution of this crisis. “In recent months we have made much progress - with the ceasefire (…) for over two months”, she said. She also hailed progress in the withdrawal of weapons from the front line. “But the ceasefire will only be lasting if progress takes place on a political solution to the conflict, and this is why the meeting on Friday is so important”, she nevertheless added.
The same day, the head of the Ukraine observation mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Ertugrul Apakan, stated that while the fighting had “not completely ceased (…) the general trend is that the ceasefire is largely holding”.
The issue of reviewing the EU's sanctions is causing division. From Stockholm, European Council President Donald Tusk stated that “despite some progress over the past weeks, it is clear that the Minsk agreements are not yet fully implemented”. “This will need to be reflected in the upcoming review of our sanctions”, he added.
The economic sanctions against Russia run until 31 January 2016. According to a government source, the member states are divided over the future of these sanctions which the heads of state and government have linked to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements. While some member states would like to prolong the sanctions as they currently stand, others envisage at least some easing of the sanctions. Unanimity is required to be able to prolong them.
Tusk rejected the idea of the EU being able to ease the sanctions in return for greater cooperation with Russia on the Syria issue. “Any speculation about possible trade-offs between Russia's actions in Syria and in Ukraine needs to be rejected”, he said. In Tusk's view, this “would not only be immoral, but what is even worse, ineffective”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)