Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question about the EU imposing the 14th package of unilateral sanctions on Russia

Question: What can you say about the new economic and sector-specific sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union yesterday?

Maria Zakharova: On June 24, the European Union announced the 14th since February 2022 package of sanctions on Russia. On the same day, the Foreign Ministry released a statement covering our response.

On a broader scale, I can say that all previous sanctions imposed by Brussels have failed. Contrary to what the EU “strategists” planned to accomplish, they were unable to undermine the Russian economy, let alone disrupt the unity of our people in the face of external threat coming from the United States and its underlings.

The 14th package of EU sanctions includes new unlawful restrictions on the Russian energy sector, which are designed to limit or outright block Russian oil and gas shipments to the global market. For example, Brussels has imposed restrictions on using its infrastructure for transporting Russian LNG to all countries, except the EU. On top of that, pirate-like measures will apply to Russian ships that engage in international trade in the interests of Russia and its partners, and more obstacles affecting payments for Russian goods will be put in. Clearly, EU leaders are taking it out on Russia for it having successfully redirected its exports, including energy, to the markets of friendly countries, while the European Union is now forced to buy natural gas at exorbitant prices from its overseas suzerain.

Clearly, what the EU is doing to cause harm to Russia equally harms third countries, destabilises global commodity markets, and undermines energy security of the developing economies. However, the EU cares little to nothing about other countries’ interests.

The Global Majority, including Russia’s BRICS partners, has adopted an unequivocal stance where any unilateral sanctions that are not approved by the UN Security Council are inconsistent with international law and are illegitimate. This also applies to all new attempts at the extraterritorial use of unilateral restrictions. However, the EU has once again flaunted the Global South and Global East countries’ approaches.

Notably, the most recent anti-Russia sanctions imposed by the EU are increasingly directed against third countries. Brussels clearly operates on an exclusively destructive principle where it has single-handedly undermined the European economy, and is now aiming to deliver an impactful blow to the global system in order to shore up its own economy. This paradigm is specific to the EU: the more harm the EU causes to everyone around them, the more the EU benefits from it. Brussels confronts sovereign states with the ultimatums: cooperate either with the West, or with Russia. The European Union is eager to destroy long-standing, often centuries-old, traditional ties between Russia and its allies and friends. Under the pretext of combatting the attempts to evade sanctions, Brussels is literally terrorising our partners with secondary restrictions. For reasons unknown, the EU decided that it can define the limits of what third countries can do in their cooperation with Russia.

The above goes to show that the EU’s unilateral sanctions are a case of colonial behaviour. They serve as a tool to restrain the democratisation process of international relations, to intimidate and to punish third countries, and to suppress their will to pursue autonomous policies.

Without a doubt, amid the disastrous for the ruling EU establishment outcomes of elections to the European Parliament, the EU’s main reason behind imposing the 14th sanctions package was to use the anti-Russia sanctions as perhaps the only chance to showcase the illusory unity of unpopular and long familiar European politicians who are trying in vain to look important by pursuing anti-Russia policies. However, this is unlikely to change anything considering the internal political processes unfolding in a number of EU countries.

Despite the obstacles created by the European Union, the Russian Federation will keep supplying the global markets with the much needed products, including energy, and fertilizer.

The Foreign Ministry made clear in its statement that the latest illegitimate EU sanctions will not be left unanswered.