MOSCOW, July 19. /TASS/. The European Union is hurting from the sanctions it imposed on Russia, so it’s more cautious about coming up with new restrictions, Chairman of the Board of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s Development and Support Foundation Andrey Bystritsky told TASS on Monday.
"The policy of sanctions harms the European Union, and they have already admitted as much," he said, when asked to comment on EU plans for the seventh package of sanctions on Russia. "Of course, they have become a little more cautious, it’s not easy for them to develop new packages of sanctions."
In energy, the EU has probably reached the limit of what they can do, Bystritsky said. He suggested further sanctions could take aim only at the financial sector and certain persons.
EU leaders will likely look for options that will inflict pain on Russia but spare the bloc as much as possible, although they won’t be able to avoid taking some damage completely, the analyst said.
Europeans aren’t amused by rising energy prices, and that’s an indirect reason of the recent government shakeups, he said. Still, EU leaders aim to step up sanctions, even as they hit their economies hard as well, according to the analyst.
"Russia shouldn’t cherish any illusions in this respect," he said.