EU slams Russia’s countersanctions

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Friday that the EU “deplores” Russia’s decision to impose countersanctions against a number of top EU officials and members of the European Parliament. “The European Union sanctions respond to the military aggression by Russia against Ukraine. They aim at bringing to an end those illegal and destructive actions,” he argued.

“Unlike Russian countersanctions, the EU restrictive measures are transparently published and based on clear criteria, including legal ways how to challenge them,” Borrell insisted. Meanwhile, Russia claimed on Thursday that the EU’s sanctions are “arbitrary,” that its criteria are “hastily being cooked up in order to add more names to the list,” and that the union is openly releasing personal data of the sanctioned individuals and companies.