Russia: Renzi opposes renewal of EU sanctions, will bring issue to Brussels

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minsiter Matteo Renzi held a press conference on the second day of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Friday.
During the conference, Renzi said that he opposed the EU's sanctions against Russia and said that he will raise the issue at the next ambassadorial meeting in Brussels. He promised to "ask to discuss the sanctions in the following light: that the sanctions are not automatically extended", and that "it will be possible to find out at what stage the implementation of the Minsk agreements have reached."
President Putin said he wanted to see concrete progress as "we must be sure that after these unilateral steps from Russia, there will be counter steps [from the EU]". He warned that Russia would not be willing to tolerate what he described "as the classic says: one step forward, two steps back".
SPIEF is held in St. Petersburg from 16 to 18 of June. The forum is regarded as the biggest platform for meetings between representatives of domestic and foreign businesses and the political establishment. Among those who came to participate in the forum this year are the President of Kazakhstan Nazarbayev and Cuba's Vice-President of the Council of Ministers Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz.