NATO's Stoltenberg - EU sanctions on Russia should remain

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg briefs the media during a NATO defence ministers meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

TRONDHEIM, Norway (Reuters) - The European Union should keep in place the sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters on Monday, a day after the German foreign minister said they should gradually be phased out.

"My assessment is that one should not remove the economic sanctions before Russia has changed its behaviour. I believe there is a broad agreement about this in the EU," Stoltenberg said in an interview.