The European Union has substantial reasons to con­tinue its energy partner­ship with Russia despite the conflict in Ukraine, but the situation could change should Moscow keep hold­ing its position on Ukrain­ian developments, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

“In the mid and long term, the necessity may arise to revise the energy cooperation with the Rus­sian Federation,” Merkel said in Berlin speaking at a press conference after talks with Finnish Prime Minis­ter Alexander Stubb.

She stressed that “our goal is not to completely get rid of interdependence” and added that energy cooper­ation is in the interests of both the EU and Russia.

The German chancellor said Germany and Finland are united in the viewpoint that it is important to keep pressuring Russia. She said she sees no reason to ease sanctions the EU imposed on Moscow in light of the events in Ukraine yet.

“We are unfortunately very far from that,” Merkel said, adding that the truce needs to be observed and free elections monitored by the Organization for Se­curity and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE] should be held.

Stubb, in turn, said his government will not re­quest NATO membership at a time when Ukraine is in crisis.

According to the UN, some 3,500 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands have fled Ukraine’s war-torn south­east as a result of clashes between Ukrainian troops and local militias in the Donetsk and Lugansk re­gions during Kiev’s military operation to regain control over the breakaway territo­ries, which call themselves the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s republics.

The parties to the Ukrainian conflict agreed on cessation of fire dur­ing OSCE-mediated talks on September 5 in Belaru­sian capital Minsk two days after Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed his plan to settle the situa­tion in the east of Ukraine.

The long hoped-for ceasefire took effect the same day despite reports that it has occasionally been violated.

The West, however, keeps imposing sanc­tions on Russia and claim­ing Moscow is involved in hostilities in Ukraine - an allegation Russia has re­peatedly denied.

Russia came under West­ern sanctions, originally visa bans and asset freezes, for incorporation of Crimea in mid-March after a coup in Ukraine in February.

Later, Western claims that Russia is taking part in hostilities in southeast Ukraine resulted in more serious, sectoral, restric­tions.

In response, Moscow im­posed on August 6 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the EU, the United States and Norway.

The EU and the United States imposed the latest batch of sectoral sanctions against Russia on Sep­tember 12 despite the deal on a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, signed in Minsk a week before.

KPL