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Diplomat says US and EU may discuss anti-Russian sanctions at G20 summit

The Senate’s bill stipulates that the US should continue opposing the implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project, as well as give priority to the US exports
Vladimir Putin  Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Vladimir Putin
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. The US Senate’s bill that toughens sanctions against Russia may be discussed with European Union countries at the forthcoming Group of Twenty summit in Hamburg, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

On June 15, 2017, the US Senate approved a bill toughening unilateral sanctions against Russia. The document is yet to be approved by the House of Representatives and submitted to President Donald Trump for signing.

"The situation is not simple. It is about relations in Western society. I don’t rule out this subject will be discussed between the Americans and Europeans in various formats, including the forthcoming Group of Twenty summit," Chizhov said, adding that Europe’s reaction has demonstrated that such sanctions would jeopardize Europe’s energy security, as such matters are to be decided by Europeans rather than the United States.

In particular, the Senate’s bill stipulates that the US should continue opposing the implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project, as well as give priority to the US exports.

The document came under severe criticism from Austria and Germany, which said that such measures run counter to international law, threaten Europe’s energy security and hinder Ukrainian settlement. According to Vienna and Berlin, these sanctions are rather geared to press the European market to buy US liquefied natural gas by clearing it of Russian fuels.