EU official says current anti-Russian sanctions already efficient

BRUSSELS, Feb 8 (PRIME) – Ñurrent anti-Russian sanctions are efficient and they are not the goal in itself, but an instrument, Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the European External Affairs Service, said in a news briefing on Monday.

“Sanctions are introduced by the member countries of the E.U., and they assess their efficiency. We applied several types of sanctions to Russia, including sectorial sanctions, sanctions connected to annexation of Crimea, sanctions connected to Russia’s actions in the East of Ukraine, and other sanctions were introduced swiftly following the poisoning of (Alexei) Navalny,” he said.

Personal sanctions freeze assets of people, prohibit them from entering the E.U., and prohibit the European companies to transfer assets to them. Sectorial sanctions had an impact on the Russian economy, and they were definitely efficient. Still, sanctions are not the goal of the E.U. politics, they are merely an instrument, he said.

“We always stress that sanctions are not the goal of our policies, but an instrument that we use to demonstrate disagreement with actions of partners,” he said.

Discussions about anti-Russian sanctions would start in the European Parliament on Tuesday and will continue at a meeting of foreign ministers of E.U. countries that is to happen on February 22, he said.

End