Sanctions are "a road which leads to nowhere," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday in Berlin. His words came at a presser at the Adlon Hotel after Normandy Format talks at Villa Borsig.

Lavrov was joined in Berlin by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. The four ministers already met for Normandy Format talks at Villa Borsig earlier in January.

Lavrov added that he believes sanctions are "a dead end," but that the countries who imposed them do not know how to find a solution. He added that he thinks the focus should instead be on "mutual consideration of interest."