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EU reaches limit on anti-Russian sanctions, says Moscow’s envoy

Vladimir Chizhov noted that when it comes to agreeing on a sanction package covering Russian gas, Europe "will have much more serious problems and internal contradictions than with oil"

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. The European Union has reached a saturation point as far as its anti-Russian sanctions go and its forthcoming - seventh - package of sanctions may cover only gas, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said on Tuesday.

"As for the content, the seventh package may only cover gas because the European Union has already reached a saturation point regarding its sanctions. There is nothing else to ban," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.

He noted however that when it comes to agreeing on a sanction package covering Russian gas, Europe "will have much more serious problems and internal contradictions than with oil."

Following an almost month-long round of debates, the EU summit has finally concurred on the sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions, which, along with a partially suspended embargo on Russian oil, includes an extended backlist of Russian entities and individuals, disconnecting Sberbank and two more Russian banks from SWIFT, in addition to three Russian TV channels in the European Union getting banned from broadcasting there.