EU Parliament Vice President Supports Gradual Lifting of Anti-Russia Sanctions

European Parliament Vice President Alexander Lambsdorff said that despite all the tensions existing at the moment, Russia was the EU's most important neighbor.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — European Parliament Vice President Alexander Lambsdorff said Friday he supports step-by-step lifting of anti-Russian sanctions.

"[I] support [German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter] Steinmeier's approach on gradual lifting of sanctions without complete fulfillment of the Minsk accords," Lambsdorff said at the meeting with the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian upper house of parliament, Konstantin Kosachev.

He added that there was a lack of communication and information exchange between Russian and European parliamentarians. The vice president stressed that despite all the tensions existing at the moment, Russia was the EU's most important neighbor.

Since 2014, relations between Russia and the European Union and the United States, deteriorated amid the crisis in Ukraine. Brussels, Washington and their allies introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia on the pretext of its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, which Moscow has repeatedly denied. In response to the restrictive measures, Russia has imposed a food embargo on some products originating in countries that have targeted it with sanctions.