MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. Brussels' strategy to set different blocs against each other continues to drive the European Union into isolation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

This is what the diplomat had to say following remarks from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell who said that the EU planned to build relations with other countries taking into account their stance toward Russia and China. "These statements are full of ultimatums and hypocrisy. Unfortunately, these are the main moral tenets of a rule-based ideology and world order, and this does not do anything to make the EU more popular. Attempts to fix everything with aggressive propaganda, intimidation, all-out war against alternative points of view and imposing the logic of bloc confrontation only drive the European Union into further isolation," she said.

Zakharova criticized Borrell's words, slamming them as "improper," and said they were not consistent with the interests of European countries and peoples.

"The EU used to talk about how countries are free to choose how to interact with these or those players in international relations, while economic measures of so-called stimulation, measures of financial control, and restrictive measures were applied immediately against those who did not want to serve the interests of the West," she concluded.

Earlier, Borrell said that Brussels believed that the era of a "fragmented world" had started, in which the European Union would build relations with other countries depending on their course towards Russia and China.