Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke about the “destruction of the infrastructure of relations” with the EU from the side of the union. His statement is given in an interview with the Russian Thought magazine, published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“Unfortunately, the current EU policy towards our country can hardly be called friendly. The EU has deliberately destroyed almost the entire infrastructure of our relations and continues the practice of imposing unilateral illegitimate sanctions, ”the diplomat said.
In particular, he pointed to the EU's demand to fulfill the Minsk agreements, which Kiev “openly sabotages”, to unsubstantiated accusations against Moscow of “disinformation” and interference in the internal affairs of the Russian Federation. Lavrov stressed that in fact it is in the interests of the EU and Russia to ensure the peaceful, stable, secure development of the entire Eurasian continent. The minister noted that Moscow would be glad to have constructive cooperation with Brussels, which should be based on the principles of mutual respect and consideration of interests.
On March 2, the EU imposed sanctions against “high-ranking officials” of Russia due to the situation around Alexei Navalny ( founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent ). In particular, the chairman of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov, and Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov were included in the sanctions list. They are banned from entering the EU countries, and they will not be able to keep funds in banks in EU countries.
At the same time, the United States published a list of Russians who fell under the sanctions. Among them are FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov, Deputy Defense Ministers Pavel Popov and Alexei Krivoruchko, Head of the Kremlin's Internal Policy Department Andrei Yarin and others. In addition to them, the 27th Scientific Center of the Ministry of Defense, the 33rd Central Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense and the Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT) fell under the sanctions.
Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that a symmetrical response to new sanctions would soon follow.
