The European Union should gradually phase out sanctions imposed against Russia over the Ukraine crisis if there is substantial progress in the peace process, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier was quoted by Sputnik as saying on Sunday.

His comments reflect divisions within Germany’s ruling right-left coalition over policy towards Russia. Steinmeier’s Social Democrats (SPD) back a more conciliatory stance towards Moscow than Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc.

Steinmeier struck a different tone. “Sanctions are not an end in themselves. They should rather give incentives for a change in behavior,” he told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland, a network of local newspapers.

Source ; MENA