French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Petersburg International Economic Forum

Russia: Petersburg International Economic Forum this week, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for the lifting of sanctions against Russia in order to ameliorate the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, according to The Moscow Times. Sarkozy noted that Russia should, as the stronger side in the conflict, act first in annulling their counter-sanctions. During the St. Ulyukayev, however, said that option is not on the table. On June 8, the French Senate adopted a resolution asking their government to reduce economic sanctions on Russia. He reiterated that Russian counter-sanctions would stay in place — the Economic Development Ministry is planning to renew them until 2017. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.