U.S. senators call on European Council to continue sanctions against Russia

21.06.2016 11:04

Ukrinform

The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations sent a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk calling on the EU to continue sanctions on Russia to force Moscow to adhere to the Minsk ceasefire deal.

The text of the document was released by the committee on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“We write to urge the European Council to roll over EU sanctions on Russia this month. According to the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) weekly reports, at least 122 Ukrainian military personnel have been killed and more than 700 have been injured since the announcement of a September 1, 2015, ceasefire,” reads the document.

It was noted that “Russia has not implemented other aspects of the Minsk agreements, including – but not limited to – the withdrawal of all heavy weapons and allowing unfettered, safe access to the OSCE SMM”.

The senators stated that it’s important that the United States and the EU “maintain transatlantic solidarity in the face of Russia’s blatant disregard for its Minsk commitments and continued illegal occupation of Crimea.”