Russia to respond to new EU sanctions based on national interests, says Grushko
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Grushko told TASS news agency on Saturday that Moscow will respond to the European Union’s ninth package of sanctions based on its national interests.
“As for retaliatory measures, they will clearly be based first and foremost on our national interests. Numerous steps have already been taken to ensure Russia’s sovereignty, including in key areas. If they (the EU) take measures that primarily affect their own interests, it’s their choice,” he said.
The senior diplomat emphasized that there was “nothing surprising” in the EU’s new package of sanctions. “The EU continues to pursue the path of self-destruction,” Grusnko noted. “At the end of the day, it is the governments of EU member states that will have to answer to their people for high inflation rates, deindustrialization, an energy crisis and all other negative consequences of this policy of refusal to cooperate with Russia,” he added.
The EU on Friday adopted another package of sanctions on Russia, the ninth since the beginning of the year. A total of 141 individuals and 49 entities were blacklisted. The EU also introduced restrictions on three Russian banks along with a number of export bans. In addition, a procedure was launched to force four Russian TV channels off the air in the European Union.
Zakharova: EU’s new sanctions on Russia will just cause more problems for the bloc
For her part, Spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that the latest round of European Union sanctions against Russia will just exacerbate problems within the bloc.
“The current ‘package’ will have the same effect as all the previous ones – exacerbation of socio-economic problems in the European Union itself,” she said.
She called on Brussels to cancel all restrictions that directly or indirectly are having an impact on Russian exports of grains and fertilizers.
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would expand trade cooperation with new partners, including by increasing gas exports to China, to combat Western sanctions.
Source: Itar Tass
Edited by Hamda Mustafa