The EU is likely to lessen sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the limiting of hostilities in Ukraine, former Bulgarian government official Simeon Djankov argued Thursday.

"If we reach a position of frozen conflict, then we can discuss how we and the Russians can work together," Russian news agency RIA quoted him as saying.

Djankov, who was Bulgaria's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister in the GERB (2009-2013) government, made his comments at a Peterson Institute of International Economics event on global economic prospects.

He cited the ongoing discussion, "literally in the last two weeks", in the incoming EU Commission about the future of restrictive measures against Russia to prove his point.

Reminding European business leaders had voiced opposition to the sanctions, he added it was rather unlikely for Brussels to impose further measures, in sharp contrast with what most top officials of the bloc are reiterating.

The West has imposed a few rounds of sanctions against Russia over its alleged contribution to fomenting tensions in Ukraine's Donbass region and, earlier over the incorporation of the Crimean peninsula, which broke away from Ukraine following a referendum. Moscow has announced a ban on food products from the EU, and US and several other countries in retaliation.

In June Djankov, currently living in Russia, joined the Supervisory Council of VTB Bank, the country's second-largest bank in terms of authorized capital.