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Russian lawmaker: EU countries divided in three groups on issue of anti-Russian sanctions

The first wants to keep sanctions, the second wants them to be lifted but sees this as the joint position of EU, and the the third group is waiting who "will gain the upper hand", Alexey Pushkov says
Chairman of Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexey Pushkov Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
Chairman of Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexey Pushkov
© Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS

MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. The member states of the European Union have divided into three categories on the issue of anti-Russian sanctions, chairman of Russian State Duma’s International Affairs Committee Alexey Pushkov said on Wednesday.

"My personal impression is that there are three groups of countries in the European Union now. The first group wants to keep sanctions [against Russia] and extend them for indefinite time. Another group want sanctions to be lifted but sees this as the joint position of EU. That is, it proposes to us and EU to look for ways to cancel sanctions," Pushkov said. The second group of countries "is actively interested in lifting sanctions but does not go beyond solidarity," he added.

The third group of countries is "waiting which group from the aforementioned two will gain the upper hand," he went on. "These countries almost never many any statements on these matters," the lawmaker noted.

Pushkov took part in today’s meeting between State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin and Austrian President Heinz Fischer. At the meeting, Fischer noted the importance of looking for ways to lift sanctions from Moscow.

The Russian lawmaker said that Austria "belongs to those countries that want sanctions to be lifted but at the same time assigns great importance to maintaining EU’s common position on this issue."