RE: Nothing will hold this back18 Mar 2025 08:54
Ukraine has indicated it is ready to accept an easing of sanctions on Russia, if it helps to deliver a just peace for the country. Russia's economy has been hit hard by sanctions that have resulted in the country losing billions of pounds in oil and gas revenues from trade with the West.
Businesses and skilled workers have also left the country since Vladimir Putin ordered his catastrophic invasion of Ukraine three years ago. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky's commissioner for sanctions policy, told POLITICO it was only a "matter of time" before countries would return to do business with Russia. However, he insisted this had to take place under the right conditions and that it was still premature to talk about which sanctions might be rescinded.
"We just want at this moment to make sure that first Russia makes significant steps in that direction, then any discussion about the lifting of sanctions emerges," he said.
"If Russia at some point will come back to more or less normal politics towards its partners and neighbours, most importantly, I don't think that they should be excluded from competitive markets," he added.