ST. PETERSBURG, June 7. /TASS/. European countries are beginning to count losses from the anti-Russian sanctions, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday, commenting on the discussions at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
"Moderator Sofiko Shevardnadze asked Slovakian Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini about the sanctions. The prime minister said a right thing that the European Union’s position not always coincide with the positions of its individual member states," she said. "We see certain dualism in that. They used to tell us that the European Union’s ranks are aligned and its position is consolidated. But as a matter of fact, Europe is beginning to analyze its losses from the sanctions, their obvious side effects."
"People in concrete countries cannot understand why they are deprived of beneficial cooperation with Russia," Zakharova added.
Those taking part in the plenary session, in her words, agreed that the world is living through quite difficult times "described by many as the sanctions political and economic wars." "Participants who represented the biggest regional states noted that it is a road to nowhere. The United Nations secretary general shared this point of view," she noted.
Earlier in the day, the session’s moderator asked Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Slovakian Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini is they were ready to vote against the sanctions at A European Union summit once they were against such restrictions. Both dodged a direct answer to the question, but condemned the sanctions.