MOSCOW, July 30. /ITAR-TASS/. Moscow is disappointed with the European Union’s inability to play an independent role in global affairs, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday in connection with Brussels’ new sanctions package against Russia.

The European Union agreed on a list of anti-Russian sanctions on July 29.

“We can see that the EU does not have a political will or desire to end the Ukraine crisis.  The European Union continues turning a blind eye to the tragic developments in southeast Ukraine where Kiev is conducting an ‘anti-terror operation’, which is claiming dozens of civilian lives. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee their homes and become refugees. A vast region is on the brink of a large-scale humanitarian disaster,” Lavrov said.

The latest developments in Ukraine have largely been prompted by EU’s irresponsible decision to appease the Kiev authorities and give them a carte blanche to “pacify” the country.

 “The European Union showed a considerable lack of principles when it de facto agreed to qualify a punitive operation of the Kiev authorities against their own people as ‘a moderate approach to restoration of law and order in the country,” Lavrov said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the European Union had adopted new sanctions against Russia under pressure from the United States.
“It’s a shame for the European Union to start talking the voice of Washington after a long search for its own “unified voice” and give up the basic European values, including the presumption of innocence,” Lavrov said.

The EU policy is no longer based on well-checked and verified facts but is written to dictation from Washington in between watching dubious Youtube videos.
“Moscow is disappointed with the EU inability to play an independent role in global affairs,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The EU is ready to face serious economic costs for the sake of implementing someone else’s dubious geopolitical schemes.

The economies of Russia and the European Union are so interlinked with each other that phase 3 of sanctions adopted by Brussels will equally affect the economies of the European Union and Russia.
In addition to that, sanctions against separate Russian industries, according to Lavrov, are running counter to the WTO rules. Restrictive measures in the finance sector will have negative consequences for the banks of EU states that operate in Russia.

“Some of them gain the biggest profit from operations of their sister banks in Russia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

The European Union has imposed an embargo on trade with weapons and military equipment with Russia. Unlike Kiev, Russia is not a party to the armed conflict in Ukraine. Nevertheless, the European Union has recently lifted all bans on trade with weapons for Kiev.

The European Union is erecting barriers to energy cooperation with Russia. That policy will inevitably backlash with higher energy prices for European consumers.

“Russia will undoubtedly solve problems to be faced by separate sectors of Russian economy, which is going to become more efficient and self-sufficient,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, adding Russia would take account of the European Union’s unconstructive and dependent behavior in building further relations with the European body.