When European partners surpass all boundaries, it cant cause anything but disappointment. How can we trust such partners? Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksey Meshkov
In response to the EU restrictions on 150 Russian citizens, last week Russia banned an entry to Russia for 89 European politicians and military leaders.
The blacklist was sent to EU officials confidentially and after repeated requests, only to be immediately disclosed to the press. Previously, in their turn, EU refused to inform in advance Russian authorities on anti-russians restrictions.
Gentlemen, this was below the belt, Deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministrys Information Directorate Mariya Zakharova wrote. She also claimed Russian diplomats had long ago stopped being surprised at the dishonesty of their Western partners, but this time it was on a shocking scale.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said that the European Commission had asked for the blacklist, saying it was “for our confidential information so that Brussels could inform those individuals in the list.”
“We handed over the list under the European Union’s request on a confidential basis and it immediately began leaking into the press and the European Union, which usually doesn’t comment on leaks, commented on it with exuberance. So I believe that this is also a breach in etiquette norms,” the Russian top diplomat said.
