MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. Europe is beginning to see that anti-Russian sanctions is a path to nowhere, Russian foreign ministry’s human rights envoy Konstantin Dolgov said on Sunday.
"The European Union’s impotent rage about absolutely justified response measures of Russia demonstrates that Europe is growing aware that anti-Russian sanctions are a blind alley," he wrote on his Twitter account.
On May 30, a top-ranking source in the Russian foreign ministry said the ministry had referred a blacklist of 89 persons, who had been banned to enter Russia, to diplomatic mission of the European Union countries. "We would like to refrain from comments on the names of people who were barred from entering the Russian Federation, although [their surnames] appeared in some media outlets," the source said. "At the same time, we confirm that such lists have been handed to our European partners."
Restrictions on entry to Russia have been introduced exceptionally as a reciprocal step to the EU actions, he said. "An answer to some European countries demanding to explain why these names have been put on the lists of persons banned from entering Russia is quite simple - this was done as a response to a sanctions campaign unleashed against Russia by some Germany-led countries of the European Union," he said commenting on the reports that certain European capitals had demanded explanations from Moscow over the blacklisted personalities.