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MOSCOW, June 1. /TASS/. The idea that Russia will abandon Crimea and Sevastopol is absolutely ruled out and sanctions pressure against Moscow is futile, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, Sergei Naryshkin has said.
"They are saying the sanctions will be canceled if Russia abandons Crimea and Sevastopol, betrays those who have believed us. It’s absolutely ruled out. We shall not leave the chosen path and pressures on us will be futile," Naryshkin said in an interview for TASS special project Top Officials.
Amid the anti-Russian sanctions, many foreigners have been forced to "leave Russia because cooperation is curtailing, businesses are being closed down, and jobs for expats are being axed," he said.
These are the effects of "policies by the countries that have joined the sanctions," Naryshkin said. "As a matter of fact, under pressures from the United States the European Union has shot itself in the foot," he stressed.
"Our foreign partners may stubbornly push ahead with their current policies, but they’ve got to realize that they will not attain the proclaimed aim," the Russian lawmaker said.
The full text of the interview is available at http://tass.ru/en/russia/797481.