Sanctions consensus: the EU did not find grounds for the abolition of restrictive measures against Russia

There are no conditions for lifting or easing sanctions against Russia imposed by the Ukrainian crisis. This conclusion was reached by the participants of the EU summit in Brussels, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“We discussed the topic of Russia and Ukraine and stated that there are no conditions to cancel or facilitate sanctions,” the TASS news agency quoted her as saying.

According to Merkel, the summit participants also talked about the incident in the Kerch Strait. “We once again made it clear that the free movement of ships in the Sea of ​​Azov must be guaranteed,” the German chancellor noted.

The position declared by European leaders is logical in the context of confrontation with Russia, RT said in the State Duma.

“The collective West has set far-reaching goals for Russia. The European Union does not need a strong economic competitor, ”said Dmitry Novikov, first deputy chairman of the State Duma’s international affairs committee.

“The fact that the conditions for the lifting of sanctions did not appear is not news and not a secret. Everyone understands that sanctions against Russia are a kind of consensus. Not only about the fact that they cannot be canceled, but also about the fact that it is impossible to introduce new ones, ”said Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies.

Recall, on December 13, the European Union decided to extend sanctions against Russia. This was stated by the chairman of the European Council Donald Tusk.

Brussels also issued a statement condemning the "use of military force by Russia" in the Kerch Strait and called for the release of all Ukrainian sailors who are now under arrest. In addition, Brussels promised to monitor the situation in the Sea of ​​Azov and "provide assistance to the affected regions."

However, no new sanctions were introduced due to the incident in the Kerch Strait. Earlier on the same day, German Foreign Minister Heikoo Meuse spoke out against the introduction of new restrictive measures against Russia - he pointed out that this way it would be difficult to negotiate a reduction in tensions in the Sea of ​​Azov.

“I believe that we all have to contribute to de-escalation. Germany does it. Together with our French partners, we are negotiating with Russia and Ukraine, ”he said.

RIA Novosti, citing a source in the European Union, reported that European leaders do not intend to expand the existing sanctions and want to concentrate on a general reduction in the escalation in the region.

"The opinion is this: it is necessary to reduce the escalation and find a solution to the issue of too long inspections of vessels, including European ones," the agency’s source said.

We note that the introduction of sanctions against Russia because of the incident in the Kerch Strait called Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who arrived in Brussels on the eve of the summit. In particular, he proposed banning Russian vessels from visiting the ports of EU countries and the USA.

Ukraine was supported in this position only by Lithuania - the only one of the NATO countries that imposed sanctions against Russia because of the incident in the Kerch Strait.

On November 28, the German television channel N-TV, citing diplomatic sources in the EU, announced the decision of Germany and France instead of expanding sanctions against Russia "to continue to rely on diplomatic efforts."

According to Novikov, the EU’s refusal to impose new sanctions should be considered in the light of trade relations between Russia and the European Union and the EU’s interest in Russian energy resources.

“On the one hand, the EU cannot be turned off from the strategy formulated by the United States, but on the other hand, the degree of confrontation in Europe is not so high and to a large extent it follows Washington’s policy,” Novikov said.

Provocation of Kiev

Recall, on November 25, three Ukrainian ships — the military tug Yana Kapu and the armored Berdyansk and Nikopol — attempted to illegally cross the Kerch Strait without contacting the Russian border guards and not observing the established passage rules.

The border service of the FSB of the Russian Federation was forced to use weapons in order to detain them, as a result of which three sailors were injured aboard the Berdyansk. Later, on board the Nikopol boat, documents were found, including those containing the order “secretly” to go through the Kerch Strait and not follow the rules of passage.

The 22 sailors and two officers of the SBU who were aboard the ships were arrested until the end of January. In Ukraine, what happened was called aggression by Russia, martial law was imposed in ten regions, banned men with Russian citizenship and from 16 to 60 years of age entering the country and allowed their border guards to open fire in the event of an attack on them without warning.

In Russia, stressed that the Ukrainian sailors acted on direct orders from Kiev, and therefore the incident in the Kerch Strait is a deliberate provocation.

“This is, of course, a provocation organized by the current government (I think the current president) on the eve of the presidential elections in Ukraine in March next year,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Europe already has no reserves"

The first deputy chairman of the committee of the Federation Council on international affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov, believes that the extension of sanctions against the Russian Federation instead of introducing new ones indicates that in Brussels they are dissatisfied with the actions of Kiev.

“Ukrainians were sure that because of the events in the Kerch Strait, they would want to introduce new sanctions. No, they did not even consider, because it was obvious to everyone that this was a provocation. Then, Europe, frankly, tired of the tricks of Mr. Poroshenko. He constantly creates tension, and then hides behind older brothers, ”said Dzhabarov in a conversation with RT.

In his opinion, over time, the position of the European Union on sanctions against the Russian Federation will change towards easing.

“Sanctions will be extended for some time every six months. But Europe already has no reserves, they suffer losses and they are tired of it. Now time is working in favor of Russia, and sooner or later the reverse process will begin, ”said the senator.