MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/: Sanctions against Russia wreak havoc in international affairs, even a number of the European Union member states are opposing them, but "hesitating" to say it in Brussels, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told the Primakov Readings international forum of experts, diplomats and decision-makers.
"They (sanctions - TASS) are harmful for those who are punished, so to speak, and for those who punish. It is even more deplorable that these sanctions wreak havoc in the complicated international political and economic affairs, undermine the WTO principles and so on," the Kremlin representative stressed.
He pointed out that at the last St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) "high representatives of these rather reputable European countries told everyone that they do not support the anti-Russian sanctions, that they are counterproductive." "But this, colleagues, was said in the city of St. Petersburg, however, for some reason, these countries are hesitating to say this in the city of Brussels. While one vote of a country would suffice so that the EU sanctions would be no more, because there would be no consensus needed to extend them," Ushakov said.
In this regard, the Russian presidential aide recalled one of the quotes by Yevgeny Primakov (former Russian Foreign Minister and Prime Minister - TASS) who said that it is not necessary to be friends with every country in the world, but we can and should work with them. "He was coming from the understanding that any global, regional or bilateral issues, even the most pressing ones, can very well be resolved on the basis of equal cooperation, while existing differences between countries should not become a serious roadblock on the path of aligning efforts to neutralize common threats and dangerous conflict situations," Ushakov pointed out. He concluded that Russia sets its foreign policy agenda precisely in this way.
"Russia is not sulking, we are willing to cooperate with practically everyone, considering the reality, and I think that sooner or later the realization will come that stigmatizing Russia and accusing it of all the deadly sins does not benefit the overall situation in the world or solve the myriad of existing problems," he concluded.
