OREANDA-NEWS. Russia will not ask the EU to lift the sanctions introduced in 2014 in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. This was announced on Tuesday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an online interview for Russian and foreign media.

“If the European Union realizes that the sanctions method has exhausted itself and rejects the decisions that were adopted in 2014, we will, of course, be ready to reciprocate. But we are not going to ask for this to be lifted”, the Russian Foreign Minister emphasized, responding to the corresponding question.

According to him, in a situation where Western partners failed Moscow and abandoned their obligations on many issues, Russia has embarked on a path that provides "self-reliance in the face of all the new possible twists and turns in the mood" of Western colleagues. “This in no way will mean isolation: we are always open for full and mutually beneficial cooperation”, Lavrov said.

“We are simply obliged, taking into account how the West behaved after 2014, to insure ourselves against the recurrence of such excesses”.