Moscow will not offer any concessions on Crimea or Donbass in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made it clear.
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“By and large, sanctions remain outside the context of any discussions that are ongoing with the Trump administration.
Any new mechanism, any additional structure that will deal with removing bilateral irritants will not include sanctions issues within its scope of responsibility. For a very simple reason. Issues related to the reunification of Crimea and the Russian Federation have long been resolved and closed. There is no subject for discussion here at all.
As for other sanctions measures, if the United States at one level or another suddenly shows interest in discussing this topic, we, of course, will not remain silent, we will respond. But so far this discussion has been limited to the statement that sanctions can be eased if Russia fully implements the Minsk agreements. If they tell us this again, we will again answer what we think about this, we will explain who should implement the Minsk agreements and who does not. I mean the Kyiv authorities, of course. And so on. I don't think this discussion is productive. Well, besides, the sanctions were imposed by the Americans – they should lift them,” the official said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.
According to Ryabkov, the date for the upcoming meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump has not yet been agreed upon. “In order for the meeting of the leaders of the two countries to be successful, it needs to be well prepared, which, in fact, is what we are doing now,” the diplomat said.