The European Union has extended for another six months its sanctions against Russian individuals and organizations over their alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis. Political analyst Yuri Mukhin told Sputnik that the EU has dug in its heels on anti-Russian sanctions and is simply unable to change its tack.
In a statement issued on Monday, the EU Council said that it “prolonged the restrictive measures over actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months until September 15.”
“European and many US politicians keep insisting that Russia is the root of all evil. This is very sad, but I’m not surprised. After blaming Russia for just about everything these people just can’t say ‘Oops! Russia is not guilty, let’s lift the sanctions,’” Mukhin said.
He added that people who dig in their heels on certain things rarely admit their mistakes.
“Especially European politicians, who are very snobbish when dealing with Russia and pursue a very arrogant foreign policy,” Mukhin noted.
He still believes that the sanctions could eventually be lifted, but not before the Europeans have acknowledged their badly-flawed policy towards Russia.
“More and more pro-European politicians now realize how harmful their sanctions war with Russia has been to the European economy and European politics. They are being told that the sanctions-hit ‘Russian regime’ could start crumbling any time now and will crawl back to its Western partners asking for mercy,” Mukhin said.
“This is not happening and will never happen though. The Europeans have serious problems, but they are not yet ready to acknowledge this. Well, so much the worse for them,” he emphasized.
Moscow regrets the European Union’s decision to extend its anti-Russia sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
“The Council of the European Union decision is regrettable… The reciprocal Russian ‘stop list’ will also continue to operate, but this is not our choice,” the ministry said in a statement.
The EU sanctions, which include asset freezes and travel bans, apply to 150 persons, including Russian businessmen, officials and leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in eastern Ukraine, and 37 entities.
Russia has been targeted by several rounds of sanctions imposed by Brussels, Washington and their allies following Crimea’s reunification with Russia in 2014 and over Moscow’s alleged involvement in the Donbass conflict in eastern Ukraine, a claim that Russia has repeatedly refuted.