MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. The EU obsessively attempts to sow discord in Russia's relations with other CIS countries, but Moscow is confident in its neighbors and that the EU's efforts will not affect cooperation with them, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS.
"In Brussels, they are obsessed with trying to sow discord in Russia's relations with its allies and neighbors. The 11th package [of sanctions] adopted by the EU in June is directed not so much against Russia as it is against third countries. The EU is blackmailing our key partners, including those from the Central Asian countries, with ‘secondary’ measures. There is no other term for this than ‘sanctions terrorism.’ At the same time, Brussels hypocritically claims to reject extraterritorial sanctions as contravening international law," Galuzin noted.
"All of the EU’s efforts will in no way affect the cooperation of our country with partners in the CIS, particularly in Central Asia. We are confident in our friends, who fully understand and share our assessment that the West's anti-Russian sanctions are illegitimate," the high-ranking diplomat emphasized.
According to Galuzin, the EU is trying to breathe new life into its unilateral restrictions by applying them extraterritorially. However, the deputy foreign minister pointed out that Brussels does not intend to and cannot effectively compensate for the damage caused to third countries by the gradual reduction of cooperation with Russia.
"Once again, the EU demonstrates that it only cares about its own well-being and the realization of unjustified political ambitions. In pursuit of this, Brussels is ready to take almost any steps, including gross interference in the affairs of sovereign countries, their trade and economic policies, and their relations with their closest partners," he concluded.