MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. Critical mass is being accumulated in the European Union in favor of lifting anti-Russian sanctions, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview with TASS.
"I will not be guessing which decisions [on sanctions] will be made and when," Chizhov said. "The process is underway of accumulation of critical mass in favor of revision of decisions, which make the EU itself suffer, which inflict huge damage upon the economy of the EU countries and politics as well."
He underscored that "the EU role on the international arena in isolation from Russia looks more inferior and less noticeable than when the EU is working jointly with Russia."
The diplomat cited last year’s agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, which became the result of many-months, difficult talks with participation of Russia and other countries of the P5+1 and the European Union.
The P5+1 is the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France - plus Germany.
Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claimed Tehran's eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons.
"Where we work jointly there’s success," Chizhov said. "And where they invent.. Like last week in the European Parliament, where they were inventing a resolution regarding human rights violations in Crimea. They adopted the resolution, which, by the way, contains a call on EU executive structures not to lift sanctions by any means."
"Who is at advantage?" he said.
For incorporation of Crimea after the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Russia came under sanctions on the part of the United States and many European countries. The restrictive measures were soon intensified following Western and Ukrainian claims that Russia supported militias in self-proclaimed republics in Ukraine’s southeast and was involved in destabilization of Ukraine.
As countermeasures, Russia imposed on August 6, 2014 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United States and Norway.
The Russian authorities have repeatedly denied accusations of "annexing" Crimea, because Crimea reunified with Russia voluntarily after a referendum, as well as claims that Moscow could in any way be involved in hostilities in Ukraine’s east.