MOSCOW, December 27 (Sputnik) — The upcoming year will be “critical” for the current sanctions regime, as many European countries oppose the measures introduced by the West against Russia, a senior Russian lawmaker said Saturday.
“2015 will be a critical year for the sanctions policy. They [sanctions] are becoming obsolete, half of Europe opposes them. Their purpose is uncertain, their harm to the EU is clear,” Alexei Pushkov, who heads the foreign affairs committee in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s Parliament, said on Twitter.
19 December 2014, 12:22 GMT
The European Union, alongside the United States and a number of their allies, has introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis, targeting its banking, defense and energy sectors.
Moscow has repeatedly denied the West’s accusations of assisting independence supporters in eastern Ukraine and stated that sanctions are counterproductive and will not help solve the Ukrainian conflict.
