The U.S. state Department considers the statements of the French President Francois Hollande about the possibility of lifting sanctions against Russia is not contrary to the General position of the Western countries, formulated from the very beginning.

It said on Monday at a briefing in Washington, state Department spokesman Jen Psaki, passes the Censor.NET with reference to UKRINFORM.

President Hollande said that sanctions should be lifted in the case of progress in establishing a lasting peace in the East of Ukraineis our position, and the position of our European and other partners from the outset. If Russia and the separatists will comply with the commitments undertaken by each party in Minsk, you may be undoing some of the sanctions," was confirmed by the representative of the foreign Ministry of the United States.

At the same time, according to Psaki until the situation will not change for the better, no easing cannot be and speeches: " If there is no progress in the case of Ukrainian settlement, there will be no rollback of sanctions."

However, she clarified that we are talking about the specific steps outlined in Minsk agreements. State Department spokesman stressed that progress in resolving the situation means not only words, but the particular case.

Recall that the President of France in the radio station France Inter said that sanctions against Russia can be withdrawn in the case of progress in the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. He also said that the conditions under which this can happen: "what we want from Putin that he respected the territorial integrity of Ukraine, to develop economic relations between Ukraine.

Source: http://censor.net.ua/