MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) – Norway's move to join the latest round of European Union sanctions against Russia will have a negative impact on bilateral trade and investment, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in an interview with RIA Novosti Thursday.
"Norway's decision to join the EU economic sanctions campaign has not made a significant impact on bilateral trade so far. The retaliatory measures that Russia was forced into adopting have halted the import of a range of food products from Norway, including fish and seafood. But following this path will inevitably have a negative impact on bilateral trade and investment volumes," Lukashevich said.
"Until recently, relations between Russia and Norway had been dynamically and effectively evolving in all key areas, however, due to disagreements over Ukraine, the process has been significantly stalled," Lukashevich said.
The introduction of anti-Russia sanctions "froze" military and parliamentary contacts between the two countries, the diplomat said, adding that the political dialogue had also been affected.
Lukashevich also pointed out that "Norwegian-Russian strategic partnership in the energy sector has been successfully developing so far, but Norway's move to join EU sanctions targeting the oil and gas industry… could result in the collapse of mutually beneficial cooperation on major projects in Russia."
"Embracing such an approach [of sanctions] is at odds with the political and economic interests of the countries, which have been forging a partnership with Russia for decades. We view Norway as one of these countries and we would like it to be our stable and reliable partner," he concluded.
Earlier in October, Norway said that it would tighten economic sanctions against Russia, which would bring its restrictive measures in line with the latest round of EU sanctions.
The latest round of EU and US sanctions was introduced against Russia in the second half of September, targeting Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors.
Norway, which is not part of the European Union but a member of the European Economic Area, has imposed sanctions against Russia along with EU member-states, the United States, and their allies, over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
Russia has repeatedly denied any involvement in the conflict in Ukraine and has stressed that the sanctions regime is counterproductive and hurts the countries that are using it.
Russia has introduced a one-year ban on a number of food imports from the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway in response to the sanctions they have imposed.
