EU Sanctions on Russia Will Affect Block Members Economy

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that his government could cancel relationships with the  European Union (EU) if the block imposes new sanctions to damage the economy. This as lawmakers warned that such move would further impact country members since Russia is the EU's third-biggest trading partner.

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"The EU should understand that even if sanctions cost Russia a lot, they are also impacting European economies. The Europe-Russia trade has declined already in the last years, and in this moment of a big economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic, imposing new sanctions is nonsense," the member of Italy's Liga party said to Russian news agency Sputnik.

On February 22, EU Foreign Ministers will meet to discuss imposing new sanctions on Russia over the protests last week in support of opposition politician Alekséi Navalni​​.

However, some EU lawmakers fear the sanctions will take place. The member of the German parliament's Committee on EU affairs from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Siegbert Droese said that "the recent developments in terms of the relationship between the EU and Russia are very alarming." 

Moreover, "the leading forces in Brussels, Berlin, and Paris do think that these sanctions can improve the geostrategic relationship," the lawmaker added.