Sanctions are effective, but Russia can't be isolated: Slovak official

Sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine situation are effective, but they cannot replace politics and be a goal in themselves, announced Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Ministry State Secretary Peter Javorcik on Wednesday.

He made the statement during a session of the parliamentary foreign committees of the V4 countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland). The committees met to discuss geopolitical situations and security threats.

"We have to maintain a political dialogue with Russia. We need Russia to be constructively included in the solutions to foreign-political matters also outside the EU. It's hard to imagine having a country like Russia isolated," said Javorcik, adding that it was impossible to resolve the conflict in Eastern Ukraine without Russia's goodwill.

Javorcik noted at the session that Slovakia provides 73 percent of total gas supplies for Ukraine via a reverse gas flow, which represents approximately 30 percent of its total consumption. At the same time, Gazprom has reduced gas supplies, he added.

"Sanctions shouldn't be symbolic but cardinal," said Polish MP Witold Waszczykowsk, adding that the sanctions must be demanding and expensive for Russia. Czech MP Roman Kostrica said Ukraine needed an assurance concerning its unity and integrity and about its future existence. Endit