03:36Russia: Putin says Moscow will lift restrictions if EU cancels sanctions
Moscow is ready to lift counter-measures against the European Union if the bloc withdraws its anti-Russian sanctions, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with a delegation of French politicians headed by Thierry Mariani in Simferopol on Monday.
"My answer will not please our Russian agricultural producers, but I must say: if the European sanctions are lifted, we will have to remove the retaliatory measures, since there will be no initial reasons for which they were introduced," the Russian president said.
Discussing the fifth anniversary of Crimea's unification with Russia, Putin said that those who call it "annexation" ignore the fact that an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted in a referendum to join Russia.
A referendum on Crimea's status took place on March 16, 2014. The final results showed that 96.77 percent voted in favour of Crimea seceding from Ukraine and becoming part of the Russian Federation.
03:36Moscow is ready to lift counter-measures against the European Union if the bloc withdraws its anti-Russian sanctions, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with a delegation of French politicians headed by Thierry Mariani in Simferopol on Monday.
"My answer will not please our Russian agricultural producers, but I must say: if the European sanctions are lifted, we will have to remove the retaliatory measures, since there will be no initial reasons for which they were introduced," the Russian president said.
Discussing the fifth anniversary of Crimea's unification with Russia, Putin said that those who call it "annexation" ignore the fact that an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted in a referendum to join Russia.
A referendum on Crimea's status took place on March 16, 2014. The final results showed that 96.77 percent voted in favour of Crimea seceding from Ukraine and becoming part of the Russian Federation.