Official: Russia holds no talks on sanctions easing with EU

BRUSSELS, Sep 16 (PRIME) -- Russia is not holding any talks with the E.U. over the abolishment of sanctions, Ambassador to the E.U. Vladimir Chizhov said late Thursday.

“We do not plan to hold any contacts with the E.U. over the sanctions, as this is not the issue of our dialogue,” he said. “This is a problem that they have created, notably not only for us, but for themselves as well, and they have to solve it,” Chizhov said.

Earlier on Thursday, the E.U. prolonged sanctions against 146 individuals and 37 entities of Russia and Ukraine, including an asset freeze and a travel ban, by six months until March 2017.

The continuation of the targeted sanctions shows that the E.U. is “still unable to critically assess its own policy” in order to “make those decisions which would not only reflect their interest in enhancing a dialogue with us, but would also reflect those growing moods in the E.U. member states,” Chizhov said.

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