(Bloomberg) -- German party negotiators are giving no sign of easing sanctions on Russia as they seek to forge Chancellor Angela Merkel's next government.
Merkel's Christian Democratic-led bloc and the Social Democratic Party agree that European Union sanctions targeting the Kremlin should remain linked to the three-year-old Minsk accord aimed at resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine, according to a draft coalition pact.
“With the implementation of the Minsk accord, we're prepared to scale back the sanctions,” the parties say in the draft seen by Bloomberg, maintaining a condition the government in Berlin has laid down since 2015.
The firm stance by the potential coalition partners contrasts with a call last month by state premiers in eastern Germany to ease economic sanctions. They say the measures haven't had an impact on Russia and hurt industry in the formerly communist part of Germany.
That recommendation has already been rejected by Merkel's caretaker government. The sanctions are a response to Russia's seizure of Crimea and support for separatists in the Donbas region fighting the Ukrainian military, government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said on Jan. 31.
“Therefore the sanction measures carried out by the EU will remain as long as the reasons for putting them in place continue,” Demmer said.
--With assistance from Birgit Jennen
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Berlin at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka, Kevin Costelloe
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