Russia: Sarkozy says sanctions against Russia should be abolished

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that he thinks sanctions against Russia should be abolished, as the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) commenced in Russia's second city, Thursday.
"I am among one of those who think that the sanctions should be abolished," Sarkozy stated, adding that "we have a lot of other problems and we cannot afford to suffer because of these artificially created problems, and the strongest should give us a hand because the strongest player now is Russia, represented by President Putin."
On the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, Sarkozy commented that "this [Ukrainian] problem will not be solved if we do not tackle it, if we do not try to solve it all together. And time will be working against us."
SPIEF was established in 1997 and since then is being held under the patronage of the Russian Federation president. This year's opening ceremony of the forum will be attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.