Permanent Representative of Russia to the EU Vladimir Chizhov gave explanations to the European Commission and the European Foreign Policy Service about the measures taken by Moscow in response to the unilateral actions of Brussels. This is stated in a statement published on the website of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the EU.
It is noted that during a meeting on May 3 with the head of the European External Action Service Stefano Sannino and the Secretary General of the European Commission Ilze Juhansone Chizhov “gave additional explanations” regarding the measures announced by Russia on April 30, 2021 in response to the unilateral decisions of the European Union.
“The importance of diplomatic efforts to rectify the current unhealthy situation in the dialogue between Moscow and Brussels was noted. The Russian side reaffirmed its readiness for this work, ”the diplomatic mission noted.
It is noted that the participants in the meeting “expressed regret in connection with the recently intensified tendency towards their deterioration.”
On April 30, the Russian Foreign Ministry added eight citizens of the association to the black list. This was a response to the anti-Russian sanctions introduced in March. The Foreign Ministry explained that the European Union continues to impose illegitimate restrictions against Moscow unilaterally. As emphasized in the department, in March 2021 alone, six Russian citizens were subjected to unlawful sanctions.
On March 22, the EU imposed sanctions against 11 individuals and four organizations from different countries, including Russia, for “human rights violations and abuse.” Two citizens of the Russian Federation were on the sanctions list. They are prohibited from entering the countries of the community, and their bank accounts will be frozen there if discovered.
At the beginning of the month, the European Union, for the first time, within the framework of a new mechanism, imposed sanctions in connection with the situation with blogger Alexei Navalny, who on February 2, the Simonovsky court of the capital, decided to replace the suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case with 3.5 years in a general regime colony. The decision was made due to Navalny’s repeated violations of the probationary period.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Moscow would respond to the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions.