"An opportunity was missed to rethink the course": the Foreign Ministry commented on the EU's decision to expand sanctions against Russia

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was disappointed with the decision of European diplomats to expand sanctions against Moscow.

“The decision adopted by the EU Foreign Affairs Council on February 22 of this year is disappointing.

under a far-fetched pretext, the decision to prepare new unlawful unilateral restrictions on Russian citizens, "the ministry said in a statement.

Russian diplomats believe that in the current situation, "another opportunity has been missed for the European Union to rethink the course of artificial linkages, sanctions and pressure in relations with Russia, which has shown complete failure over the past years."

“Instead, obeying bloc discipline and anti-Russian stereotypes, Brussels is instinctively pushing again on the inoperative sanctions button.

Moreover, contrary to logic, a political decision is first made, and then it is planned to arbitrarily select candidates for it, ”the message says.

The ministry said that “another erroneous step by the EU Council was taken in the context of an unprecedented warming up of the anti-Russian information background in the European Union the day before.”

The Foreign Ministry stressed that they consider “the constantly sounding unlawful and absurd demands for the“ release ”of a Russian citizen who was convicted of economic crimes by a Russian court on the territory of our country in accordance with Russian law as categorically unacceptable."

“In international practice, this is called interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,” the department said.

The ministry added that "the rooting of such illegitimate instruments in the EU's foreign policy arsenal - ultimatums, pressure and sanctions - is only regrettable."

Decision of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union

Earlier it became known that the foreign ministers of the EU countries decided to impose new sanctions against Russia.

The reason for this was "the condemnation of Alexei Navalny."

“As for the situation with Navalny, we came to a political agreement on the introduction of restrictive measures against those involved in his arrest, his sentence and prosecution.

For this, we intend for the first time to apply a new regime of sanctions for violations of human rights, ”said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, at a press conference following the meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels.

• Press conference following the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels

• Reuters

According to him, it will take no more than a week to agree on this process.

Recall that earlier the court replaced Navalny's suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case with a real one.

Taking into account the sentence served, Navalny will spend about 2.5 years in the colony.

Borrell added that now EU diplomats must develop a new approach to building relations with Russia.

“We must define a model in order to avoid constant confrontation with neighbors, who, unfortunately, decided to act as an adversary,” explained the head of European diplomacy.

First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Vladimir Dzhabarov, in an interview with RT, noted that a new package of sanctions from Europe is capable of causing minimal damage "so as not to receive similar actions from Russia in response."

The senator noted that Europe chose the path of glorification of Navalny, not thinking about the consequences of this decision.

“They do not understand that this is an absolutely losing situation and, apart from further deterioration of relations between the EU and Russia, this will not lead to anything.

These sanctions will not affect the court decision, will not affect the consideration of other cases against Navalny, ”Jabarov said.

He added that one should not speak with Russia in the language of sanctions.

“To speak with us in the language of sanctions is absolutely unconstructive, it is counterproductive, moreover, it will only lead to increased tension in relations,” he summed up.

Dmitry Novikov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, in turn, stressed that "unwinding the sanctions spiral" serves the purpose of waging an information war.

“The sanctions are used externally - in the interests of Russia's observance of human rights, in the interests of non-interference by Russia in some affairs of Western countries, in fact, this is only a justification, the real purpose of the sanctions pressure is to weaken the Russian economy”, - said the deputy in an interview with RT.

Borrel's visit to Russia

Note that the head of European diplomacy called for the introduction of new sanctions against Russia in early February.

Borrell visited Russia, where, following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergeevm Lavrov, he noted that, despite the differences, Russia and the EU should look for areas for cooperation.

After returning from Russia, the head of EU diplomacy wrote in his blog that the Russian authorities did not use his visit as an opportunity to establish a more constructive dialogue with the EU.

Soon he called for new sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Subsequently, Lavrov said that the European Union has been deliberately leading to a break in relations with Russia for many years.

As the minister noted, after the coup d'etat in Ukraine, the EU destroyed all mechanisms of interaction with Moscow.

Later, the minister noted that the main goal of the EU sanctions against Russia is not to deteriorate relations, but to the desire of European states to assert themselves.

“They want to assert themselves. They are now beginning to act in the same way as the United States, including displaying the mentality of an exclusive cohort of states, ”he said in an interview with RBK-TV.