French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian speaks during a meeting of the Russian-French Security Cooperation Council in Moscow, Russia, September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
September 9, 2019
MOSCOW (Reuters) – France’s foreign minister on Monday welcomed positive moves by Russia and Ukraine in past weeks to ease a crisis between the two countries, including a prisoner swap over the weekend, but said it was premature to lift sanctions against Moscow.
“It’s not yet the time to lift sanctions. We are seeing a new state of mind compared to that of the last few years, which we are pleased about,” Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a joint news conference.
(Reporting by Polina Devitt; writing by Richard Lough; Editing by Leigh Thomas)
