MOSCOW, October 8. /TASS/. Russia cannot rely on the European Union in economic issues because Brussels can impose sanctions against Moscow anytime, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with members of the Association of European Businesses in Russia.

"We realized that relying [on the EU] in strategic areas of the economy, in the military industry, [expecting] supplies of technologies and components from countries that can overnight impose sanctions against us is simply impermissible for such a power as Russia," he said.

Lavrov recalled that previously Russia and the EU had joint enterprises, in particular, joint production of military equipment with Ukraine and the Baltic States.

"We had such cooperation but now it is becoming history. We would be ready to resume it but there are no guarantees that on a new stage [of cooperation] some Russophobes from the EU would not want to punish us, that they would not demand new sanctions," Lavrov said.