Ukraine says peace process at risk without EU sanctions

A boy rides a bicycle near a BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher system at an exhibition of military weapons and vehicles seized from pro-Russian separatists during fighting in eastern Ukraine, in central Kiev, Ukraine, September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Loosening the European Union's economic sanctions on Russia would wreck the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, because the measures are the West's only leverage over Moscow, Kiev's deputy foreign minister said on Friday.

Next month, EU leaders are set to discuss the sanctions on Russia's energy, financial and defence sectors, which were imposed after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014. Countries with closer ties to Russia, including Cyprus, Italy and Hungary, are pushing to lift some measures or even allow them to expire in January.