MOSCOW, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Russia Vladimir Remek expressed hope on Thursday that the European Union would lift the sanctions it has imposed on Russia over Moscow's alleged role in the Ukrainian conflict.
"I would like to hope that the situation will unfold in such a way that we will eventually walk away from these sanctions and a political and diplomatic solution will be found for the questions we are facing now," Remek told journalists.
Remek noted that as the key sphere of Czech-Russian trade relations is machine building, which has not been hit by the EU sanctions, the Czech Republic is not currently suffering any economic losses caused directly by the EU restrictions. However, the EU sanctions continue to raise concerns among the members of the business community.
Czech leaders, including the country's President Milos Zeman, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, former Prime Minister Petr Necas and other senior officials have repeatedly urged the EU to lift or at least ease the sanctions against Russia. For example, the Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said in an interview published Wednesday by the Mlada fronta Dnes daily that the EU should consider easing its restrictions if Russia is successful in negotiating natural gas deliveries with Ukraine.
Russian relations with the West have deteriorated over the crisis in Ukraine. The European Union and the United States have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its alleged involvement in the crisis, which Moscow has repeatedly denied.
