BRUSSELS, December 18. /TASS/. The European Union and Russia may overcome sanctions regime, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told a news conference following the EU summit on Friday.

"We have never concealed our position, even when being criticized," Renzi said. "In order to withstand extremism we need Russia’s participation and the recent developments proved we were right."

"We can overcome the sanctions taking into account the implementation of the Minsk Accords," Renzi said. "We have no problems with the preservation of the sanctions, but their automatic prolongation without any discussions seems to be at least weird."