LONDON (AP) – Russia has said it is in a position to break ties with the European Union, according to an excerpt from an interview published Friday morning on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
When asked if Russia is heading for a breakup with the European Union, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “We start from the fact that we are in a position (for this). In case we see sanctions imposed in certain sectors. for our economy, adding in the most sensitive areas,” according to a translation by Reuters.
“We don’t need to isolate ourselves from global life, but we have to be in a position to do so. If you need peace, prepare for war,” Lavrov added.
Neither the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, were available without delay to comment when they were contacted through CNBC on Friday.
The relationship between Russia and the EU reached a new low last week when EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell visited his counterpart in Moscow. Since then, analysts have called him “humiliating. “
Borrell explicitly made the EU’s opposition to the arrest of Alexei Navalny, a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he accused Russia of holding “an aggressively organized press conference” on his journey.
In press statements, Lavrov said that “the EU is a reliable partner, at least at the supply stage. “Borrell responded to this comment, which provoked the wrath of some European lawmakers.
In addition, Borrell learned via Twitter of an assembly with Lavrov that Russia had expelled 3 EU diplomats for attending demonstrations in Navalny’s aid.
“A competitive press convention and the expulsion of 3 EU diplomats on my scale mean that the Russian government did not need to take this opportunity to have a more constructive discussion with the EU,” Borrell said in a blog post two days after his trip.
As a result, he warned that the EU will impose a new sanction on Russia, a resolution that will have to be passed through European governments.
This would not be the first time Russian and US corporations have been sanctioned across the EU. Their relations have deteriorated significantly since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, but in the end its relations are incredibly vital to both, given its unusual economic power. strategic interests.
Analysts told CNBC that the most recent differences between Moscow and the EU can put pressure on the pipeline being built between Russia and Germany, Nord Stream 2.
The assignment has been heavily criticized, across the United States, which has imposed sanctions on corporations in process, a position in which new U. S. President Joe Biden has shown no signs of change.
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