Media predicted a difficult situation for the EU if US sanctions against Russia are lifted

The probable lifting of the US sanctions against Russia will complicate the situation of the European Union (EU). This was stated by columnist Pierre Briançon in a piece for Reuters published on February 17.

He noted that the imposition of anti-Russian sanctions by partners on both sides of the Atlantic "has been synchronized over the past three years," with the United States and EU sanctions packages providing for roughly the same set of measures.

"Most trade with Russia was banned, the country's foreign currency reserves were frozen, Russian banks were disconnected from international payment systems, and dozens of Russian officials and businessmen were subjected to individual sanctions," the agency's piece said.

According to the journalist, American President Donald Trump may indeed decide to lift sanctions unilaterally - either in the case of cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, or in order to put pressure on Kiev and the EU in case of their unwillingness to agree to the proposed truce.

Then US business will once again have the opportunity to cooperate with Russia, and European companies, watching their competitors, will demand that national governments follow Washington's example, Reuters pointed out.

As Briançon emphasized in his piece, against this background, it will be difficult for the EU to remain the only party supporting the use of sanctions against Moscow.

On the eve of the official Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov said that the U.S. sanctions against the Russian leadership may not have a significant impact on the negotiations between Moscow and Washington, as such measures can be quickly lifted if desired.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with the American leader on February 12. According to Peskov, the two leaders discussed many topics, including the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. The next day, Trump announced a meeting of representatives of Russia, the US and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia.

On February 15, the foreign ministries of the G7 countries adopted a communiqué on the topic of imposing new sanctions against Russia. Restrictions were linked to the negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov drew attention to the fact that European countries were preparing new sanctions amid the difficult situation in their own economies.