TBILISI, August 6. /TASS/. Georgia will not support European Union sanctions against Russia, the country's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told reporters on Thursday.
"As a government leader, I have always been considering that Georgia should not join anti-Russian sanctions," he said. "We held that position last year and we are not going to change it this year."
Moscow may take retaliatory steps against countries that support sanctions
Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier said Russia may expand the list of countries which are subject to its counter-sanctions. Medvedev said that it concerns the countries that previously did not support sanctions against Russia, and therefore were not covered by the Russian response.
Medvedev did not name any specific countries such measures may concern.
In late July, seven European countries - Montenegro, Albania, Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein, Ukraine and Georgia reaffirmed to the EU Council they prolonged the participation in the EU’s sanctions against Crimea and Sevastopol till June 23, 2016. Six of these countries except Georgia also joined the EU’s decision of July 22 to prolong economic sanctions against Russia till January 31, 2016.
The EU membership aspirants (Montenegro and Albania and the countries affiliated with the European Free Trade Association: Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein and also Ukraine and Georgia, which are neither EU aspirants or members of EFTA (European Free Trade Association), joined the EU Council’s declaration of June 19 prolonging the operation of the EU’s restrictive measures against Crimea and Sevastopol till June 23, 2016.
On August 7, 2014 Russia imposed a one-year ban on imports of a number of food products from Australia, Canada, the European Union, the United States and Norway as a response to anti-Russia sanctions imposed by those countries.