“The only ones against whom any sanctions or measures of liability can be imposed are the current Kiev authorities headed by President Poroshenko. They organized the provocation on Azov, which was accompanied by the violation of the Russian state border and the creation of tension in the region,” said Leonid Slutskiy
Leonid Eduardovich
, commenting on reports of Western media about the possibility of new sanctions for the incident in the Kerch Strait.
“However, the West prefers to blame Russia for everything, over and over again, for reasons that are absolutely far-fetched. The biased and unobjective position that has nothing to do with international legal norms again dominates,” he said.
The Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs emphasized that if the EU nevertheless goes to the next expansion of sanctions, this “will once again show the lack of independence of European policy towards Russia.”
“New restrictions are forced exclusively by the United States, which, obviously, is the main beneficiary of the Ukrainian provocation in the Kerch Strait,” Leonid Slutskiy said.
“The United States Deputy Representative to the United Nations promised us the preservation of US sanctions until Russia returns Crimea to Ukraine. Crimea is not a matter of bargaining, and no one took it away from anyone,” the parliamentarian also said. He reminded that in 2014 at a nationwide referendum Crimeans voluntarily decided to return to their native harbor, to Russia.
“We could not push them away then, and we would not betray them now. The issue of territorial belonging of Crimea is closed. There can be no question of the return of the peninsula to Ukraine in exchange for the lifting anti-Russian sanctions by the US,” concluded Leonid Slutskiy.
“I do not exclude that following this way the European Union itself will even come close to its disintegration”
Adalbi Shkhagoshev
Adalby Lyulevich
, a member of the Committee on Security and Corruption Control, also noted that “new EU sanctions are planned under Washington’s pressure. It is clear that the current European elite is not managing US pressure.”
“If Brussels continues to build its policy towards Russia, looking endlessly at the United States, the consequences could be very serious. I do not exclude that following this way the European Union itself will even come close to its disintegration,” he pointed out.
“The European Union claims to be a strong organization. But in order to comply with this role, it is impossible to hypothetically build relationships with continental neighbors, being dependent on Washington. I hope that the rising political generation in Europe will not tolerate this,” said Adalbi Shkhagoshev.
Earlier, the Financial Times reported, citing sources, that the United States and the European Union are close to adopting new sanctions against Russia in response to the incident in the Kerch Strait. The newspaper writes that this issue will be discussed on February 18 at a meeting of foreign ministers of EU countries. As expected, the new sanctions will come into force around the end of March this year.
