VIENNA, January 25. /TASS/. The population of European Union countries is growing more and more dissatisfied with anti-Russian sanctions, Russia’s ambassador to Austria Dmitry Lyubinsky said in an interview with the Oberosterreichische Nachrichten newspaper.

The ambassador said that Moscow welcomes Austria's diplomatic representation about developing relations with Russia, both bilaterally and on the EU level. However, in the second case, mutual rapprochement is blocked by internal differences within the European Union, he said.

"Nevertheless, I’m getting an impression that more and more people in EU countries, including Austria, are absolutely dissatisfied with the existing dead-end regime of sanctions," Lyubinsky said.

The ambassador reiterated Russia’s readiness to restore full-fledged cooperation with EU and its member states.

"We remain open, but only the side that had imposed the sanctions in the first place can come up with such an initiative," he said. "I firmly believe that the sanctions will gradually be lifted.".