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EU countries violating their laws by supplying arms to Ukraine, notes Russian diplomat

According to the EU Council Common Position of December 2008, member states should "prevent the export of military technology and equipment which might be used for internal repression," Maria Zakharova recalled

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. EU member-states have been violating their own laws by supplying weapons to Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Wednesday.

"EU countries may not supply armaments, including Soviet ones, to a nation that has been using them or will use them or is willing to use them against its own citizens in an internal conflict," Zakharova said. The current "arms supplies mean that Brussels has recognized the [Donbass] republics, and then the conflict in Ukraine ceases to be an internal one, otherwise the EU’s member-countries have been violating the fundamental principles of integration," she noted.

Zakharova pointed to the EU Council Common Position of December 2008 that spells out the rules governing the export of military equipment. The document reads that member states should "prevent the export of military technology and equipment which might be used for internal repression" and that they should "deny an export license for military technology or equipment which would provoke or prolong armed conflicts or aggravate existing tensions or conflicts in the country of final destination."

"When making a hasty decision on arms supplies, strategists in Europe had no idea that they would be forced into a zugzwang, and now they have no choice but to stop sending weapons and retract their deliveries, otherwise they will have to recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics," the Russian diplomat concluded.

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Ukraine crisis Ukraine Russian Foreign Ministry EU Maria Zakharova

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