British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss. File photoLONDON, Mar 27A ceasefire and the withdrawal of troops from Ukraine are key conditions for lifting sanctions against Russia, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper.
"These sanctions must be lifted only with a complete ceasefire and withdrawal of troops, as well as with commitments that there will be no further aggression. In addition, there is the possibility of applying sanctions if further aggression occurs in the future. This is a real lever that I think can be used. It was not used in 2014", she said.
At the same time, Truss stressed that at the present time it is necessary to «double the sanctions and double the amount of weapons supplied to Ukraine.» In her opinion, the continuation, and in some cases the escalation of the current tactics used by Ukraine and the West, can bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. «When the time comes for negotiations, I want the UK to play a key role in ensuring support for Ukraine in concluding an effective deal,» Truss said. According to her, a specialized negotiating unit has been set up in Britain to support Ukraine. Today, over a thousand Russian citizens and enterprises are under British sanctions. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24th. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the Russian President emphasized.