Bundestag Member Calls For Urgent Termination Of EU's Russian Sanctions

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published March 19, 2019 | 10:15 PM

The European sanctions that imposed on Russia over the Crimea issue must immediately be lifted, member of the German parliament Stefan Keuter said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th March, 2019) The European sanctions that imposed on Russia over the Crimea issue must immediately be lifted, member of the German parliament Stefan Keuter said on Tuesday.

"Sanctions are the wrong way to find a solution [to the Crimea issue]. They were not even sanctioned by the UN, they are against German and Russian economic interests. Therefore, they need to be urgently lifted," Keuter said during a meeting of the program committee of the fifth Yalta International Economic Forum (YIEF).

According to the parliamentarian, reports in the German media about Crimea did not correspond to reality.

"I can say that these are fake news," Keuter stressed.

He added that both international law and the will of the Crimean people should be taken into account on this issue.

Crimea rejoined Russia on March 18, 2014, after 97 percent of Crimeans who voted in a referendum on the matter supported the reunification. The reunification was not recognized by Ukraine or Western states, which subsequently imposed economic and political sanctions on Moscow. Russia has repeatedly stated that the referendum was conducted in compliance with international law.

The fifth edition of the Yalta International Economic Forum is slated to take place in the Crimean resort city on April 18-20 and is expected to bring together participants form some 100 countries. The annual gathering is one of the biggest economic forums held in Russia alongside the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Eastern Economic Forum and the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi, according to the YIEF organizers.