"Crimea sanctions will remain in place regardless of Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine/ceasefire implementation under Minsk," Pyatt tweeted.
"U.S. sanctions designed to hold Russia responsible for illegal annexation of Crimea, but not disrupt free information flow to people there," he added.
As UNIAN reported earlier, Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in March after invading the peninsula with its troops, and then began to destabilize the situation in the Donbas. Later, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics were created, with the direct participation of Russian special forces and the support of Russian army in the Donbas, according to Ukraine.
A growing body of evidence shows Russia also supplies weapons to the militants of the DPR and LPR and sends mercenaries and its regular troops to fight in the Donbas.
The European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and several other countries imposed sanctions against Russia because of its annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea and its destabilization of eastern Ukraine.
In addition, in 2014 the United States and the EU imposed a number of sanctions against the illegitimate representatives of the Crimean government.
In December 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama ordered a ban on trade and investment in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea.
