MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) – The offer to authorize EU ambassadors to decide on sanctions against Russia not only facilitates the procedure but also points to disregard for international legal norms, first deputy head of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Kalashnikov said Friday.
“This was made to further simplify the issue. But then we can do without meetings of the UN General Assembly and summon only a group of UN envoys and by their decision approve decrees by the heads of states,” Kalashnikov told RIA Novosti.
European Council President Herman van Rompuy addressed EU leaders earlier on Friday with an offer to hand over the responsibility for deciding on sanctions to ambassadors, without convening an emergency summit.
According to Kalashnikov, the measure also bears evidence of total disregard of international legal norms.
Earlier on Friday, the European Union extended its sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine, adding 15 individuals and 18 companies to the blacklist.
The latest addition brings the total number of individuals targeted by sanctions to 87 and the number of entities to 20.
