"Sanctions of the European Union were powerless to hinder the continuation of trade and economic cooperation between our countries. According to the Dutch — Statistics Netherlands [the Central Agency for Statistics] — bilateral trade increased by 31.2% to 19.1 billion euros [$20.48 billion] in January-August 2022," Shulgin said.
He said that Russia's export to the Netherlands rose 57.6% to 16.6 billion euros, while imports from the Netherlands decreased by 37.6% to 2.5 billion euros, adding that "the surplus of the Russian Federation in trade with the Kingdom of the Netherlands amounted to 14.1 billion euros."
Speaking about political and economic situation on general, Shulgin added that Moscow is ready to consider new format of cooperation with the West but on its own terms.
"There would be no return to 'business as usual,' to the former scheme of relations with states unfriendly to us. However, Russia is ready to consider new formats of cooperation on our terms if and when Western capitals 'mature' to this," Shulgin said.
Concerning the relations with the Netherlands, the ambassador said that the Hague unilaterally "froze" almost all the areas of bilateral cooperation with Russia that were still open.
"Businesses working with Russia have had to curtail or suspend their activities in our country, not least because of pressure from the official Hague and the widespread anti-Russian campaign unleashed in the local media. In fact, cooperation in the fields of education, culture, and science has been completely discontinued. Political contacts have been reduced to a minimum," Shulgin said.