MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. The sixth package of sanctions against Russia will have a self-destructive effect for the European Union, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on Thursday following the new anti-Russian steps of the EU.

"Obviously, the main components of the next package of anti-Russian unilateral restrictions, agreed under the slogan of combating dependence on Russia, will have a self-destructive effect for the European Union. No wonder it took Brussels almost a month to force member countries to this "decisive" demonstration of solidarity," the document says.

The Foreign Ministry noted that a partial rejection of Russian oil, as well as a ban on insurance of Russian merchant ships, would trigger further price increases, destabilize energy markets and disrupt supply chains.

"The next obstacles in the way of Russian goods will in particular affect supplies of agricultural products. Ultimately, such actions will achieve the opposite result - they will undermine the economy and energy security of the EU, accelerate the impending global food crisis, which Brussels verbally seeks to prevent," the Foreign Ministry stated.

The ministry stresses that Moscow will adequately withstand the consequences of the EU unilateral restrictive measures and remain a reliable trading partner in the international arena.

"The entire responsibility for the risks of exacerbation of global food and energy issues provoked by the illegitimate actions of the European Union will lie solely with Brussels and its political sponsors in Washington," the document says.

"The results of the extraordinary EU summit in Brussels on May 30-31, 2022 became another evidence of the degeneration of this integration association into a tool to contain Russia in line with the geopolitical guidelines of the United States and NATO. The EU is finally losing its independence and the peaceful unifying pan-European agenda that the founding fathers of United Europe invested in it," the Russian Foreign Ministry summed up.

Promises to Kiev

Moscow pointed at the fact that on May 30, EU leaders again did not say a word about the scenario for a peacefully negotiated settlement of the situation in Ukraine, which was blocked by Kiev.

"On the contrary, the European Union is purposefully pushing Kiev closer and closer to the brink of the abyss," the statement said.

"It [the EU] supports its [Kiev’s] militant ambitions with vague promises of EU integration, the supply of lethal weapons and promises of money, including foreign money, which Brussels is not averse to confiscate from Russia and think about how to do this while hushing up the heinous war crimes committed daily by Ukrainian neo-Nazi fighters and their torture of civilians."

Repressions against mass media

In in its statement the Russian Foreign Ministry also stresses that repressions against Russian journalists and media in the EU countries are yet another example of double standards.

"A new ban on the broadcasting of three more Russian TV channels has been approved. This, unfortunately, has already become the norm for the "beacon" of democracy and pluralism. In other words, the Western information space is finally being cleared of dissent and signs of freedom of speech," the ministry noted.

Moscow stated that the unlawful unilateral restrictions of Brussels are not only futile, but also harm primarily the residents of the EU countries themselves, aggravating their already difficult socio-economic situation.

"In this situation, the EU calls for third countries to support anti-Russian sanctions, regardless of the interests of their population, sound frankly cynical," the Foreign Ministry stressed.

On Monday, EU heads of state and government approved the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes a partial embargo on Russian oil imports. The EU countries could not reach a compromise for almost a month, since Hungary, with the support of a number of other states, opposed a complete ban on oil imports from Russia, believing that the damage from its introduction would be catastrophic for the economy. The European Commission had to significantly mitigate its position and announced that the supply of Russian pipeline oil Budapest receives will not be banned for a time being.