Speaking to RFE/RL in the Czech capital after a weeklong tour of four Central European states to shore up support for the sanctions regime, Daniel Fried on June 16 called costs to the West of sanctions "the price" of combating "Russian aggression."
The United States and European Union imposed sanctions on Russia for its seizure of in March 2014 and its backing of armed separatism in eastern Ukraine, leaving President Vladimir Putin internationally isolated.
Western officials vow the measures will be lifted only after the fulfillment of the 2015 Minsk accords, which set out steps to bring a lasting peace to eastern Ukraine, where more than 9,300 people have died in fighting since April 2014.
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