OREANDA-NEWS. The head of the branch of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Thuringia, Mike Moring, advocated the gradual lifting of anti-Russian sanctions already in the current legislature period, until the next Bundestag election, which will be held in 2021. He stated this in an interview published on Wednesday with the German Editorial Association.

"The first steps here must be taken during this election period," the politician believes. "It is possible to link the lifting of sanctions with the situation in the east of Ukraine", Moring noted. "If it's clear that there is a movement towards a reasonable solution, sanctions can be eased - step by step, gradually", he said. According to him, in the eastern regions of Germany they expect readiness for a dialogue with Russia.

Moring nominated the main candidate from the CDU for the post of head of the government of Thuringia. Elections to the Landtag (Land Parliament) in the region will be held on October 27. In early September, he emphasized that the restrictive measures imposed by Russia in response to EU sanctions are harmful, first of all, to the agriculture of this land. In his opinion, "East Germans expect relations with the Russian Federation to normalize again".

In 2014, the European Union imposed sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the events in Ukraine and the reunification of Crimea with Russia. Restrictive measures have been repeatedly expanded and extended. Negotiations on a visa-free regime and on a new basic agreement on cooperation were suspended, a ban on entry into the EU countries for officials from the Russian Federation was introduced and their assets were frozen, restrictive measures of a commercial, financial and military nature were introduced. In response, Russia imposed a ban on imports from the EU countries of a number of food products.