BRUSSELS, March 22. /TASS/. Ukraine and other countries willing to obtain European weapons via the European Peace Facility will have to pay with their sovereignty, the Russian mission to the European Union has told TASS.
"It appears that the European Union was not satisfied by simply causing the crisis in Ukraine to escalate further through its massive supplies of lethal weapons to the Kiev government and by not controlling their subsequent fate in any form. Apparently, Brussels now wants to spread its weapons all over the world under the same scheme," the Russian diplomatic mission said
"At the same time, one should understand that the seemingly free-of-charge nature of this aid is nominal. Under the present-day geopolitical circumstances, those countries will have to pay with their own sovereignty in international affairs," it said.
The statement came in response to latest remarks by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, who pledged to provide other states with lethal weapons, as was the case with Ukraine. Russian diplomats said the announcement, made during the Schuman Security and Defense Forum, was a sign that the European Union was on its way to become an aggressive military bloc.
"This is not just a yet another proof of the European Union’s transition to military economy, it is an official bid by Brussels to transform itself from a trade and economic integration body into a militaristic bloc, a bloc that is focused on aggression rather than on defense," Russian diplomats added.