President Vladimir Putin is not going to discuss with German Chancellor Angela Merkel the lifting of sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia. This was reported on Tuesday, May 15, and. press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov. "Not Russia imposed sanctions, Russia was not the initiator of this sanction exchange, and, accordingly, it is not for Russia to initiate these discussions," RIA Novosti quoted the Kremlin spokesman as saying. Peskov stressed that in Russia, the measures of economic pressure directed against her are "illegal from the point of view of international law". However, as before, Moscow does not intend to raise this issue in bilateral negotiations. "Our president has repeatedly said this:.

the question of sanctions is not our question, it's not a matter of our agenda, "explained Peskov.

At the same time, he said that Russia is eagerly awaiting the visit of the German Chancellor, which is scheduled for May 18, and is also preparing for Russian-French summit talks that will be held on May 24-25 during the visit to Russia of French President Emmanuel Macron. The day before it became known that the Council of the EU included in the "black list" of five Crimean officials who participated in the organization of presidential elections in the Russian Federation on the peninsula. On Tuesday, May 15, the State Duma adopted in the first reading a draft law on counter-sentences, allowing the president and the government of the Russian Federation to take action against countries that are aggressive towards Russia.