Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Russia was willing to sever relations with the European Union if it continued with the planned sanctions.
Sergey was asked: “Are we heading towards a break with the EU?” in a fragment of an interview with the Solovyov-life program published on his Telegram channel and shared by the Foreign Ministry.
He responded that Russia was willing to do so in the event sanctions are imposed in areas that create risks for the Russian economy.
“We start from the fact that we are ready [for that]. In the event that we again see sanctions imposed in some sectors that create risks for our economy, even in the most sensitive areas, ”Lavrov said.
“We don’t want to isolate ourselves from global life, but we have to be prepared for that. If you want peace, prepare for war, ”he said.
The full interview will be posted later on Friday.
Laps of the Kremlin
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later told reporters that Lavrov’s comments had been taken out of context, saying that Russia wanted to develop relations with Brussels, but should be prepared for the worst.
He blamed the media for publishing a “tabloid headline” without context, despite the fact that the Foreign Ministry previously published the extract of the interview without context on the ministry’s website.
When asked if breaking relations with the EU was an option in the future, he replied that Russia must “of course” be prepared to take such measures if it is hit by “extremely destructive” movements that damaged its infrastructure.
Peskov said Moscow needed to be ready to replace any part of its vital infrastructure if it is deprived of the necessary elements.
In a separate interview published in the Izvestia newspaper on Friday morning, Russia’s permanent representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said that the Russia-EU talks would continue and that Borrell’s trip to Moscow was a positive sign of the willingness to participate.
Borrell: Kremlin sees democracy as a threat
His comments came after the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that he believed Russia wanted to separate from Europe and divide the West.
“The Russian government is taking a worrying authoritarian route,” Borrell said. “It seems there is almost no room for the development of democratic alternatives … they are ruthless in suppressing any such attempt,” he told the European Parliament. He said the Kremlin viewed democracy as an “existential threat.”
Borrell’s statements, backed by European Council President Charles Michel, suggest that the EU will harden its stance towards Moscow after years of seeking better ties.
New sanctions are coming
The EU has hinted at imposing new sanctions against Moscow for the arrest of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the crackdown on protesters in Russia.
According to some reports, the EU plans to impose travel bans and asset freezes on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s allies, after France and Germany gave the go-ahead.
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