MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Friday it would be ready to sever ties with the European Union if the bloc hits it with painful economic sanctions, a statement Germany described as “disturbing”
Ties between Russia and the West, already low after the Cold War, have come under renewed pressure over the arrest and imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.
Three European diplomats told Reuters on Thursday that the EU could impose travel ban rights and asset freezes on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s allies, possibly only this month.
The pressure on sanctions has increased since Moscow angered European countries last week by expelling German, Polish and Swedish diplomats without telling the EU’s head of foreign policy, who was in Moscow. Paris and Berlin say there must be a response.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was asked in an interview on the ministry’s website on Friday whether Moscow was cutting ties with the EU.
“We are going from the fact that we are ready (for that). In the event that we again see sanctions in some sectors that create risks for our economy, also in the most sensitive areas,” Lavrov said.
“We do not want to isolate ourselves from worldly life, but we must be ready for it. If you want peace, you must prepare yourself for war.”
A spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said these statements were really disturbing and incomprehensible.
The Kremlin offered a softer interpretation of Lavrov’s words later Friday. It said Russia wanted to develop ties with the EU rather than sever them, but that Moscow believed it should be ready for Brussels to take steps to cut ties.
“If the EU goes that way, yes, then we must be ready, because you must be ready for the worst,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call.
“Of course, if we encounter an extremely destructive line damaging our infrastructure and our interests, then of course Russia must be prepared in advance for such unfriendly steps.”
The Foreign Ministry later said Moscow would be willing to cut ties if Brussels were to start such a break, the RIA news agency reported.
(Reporting by Maria Kiselyova, Dmitry Antonov in Moscow and Paul Carrel in Berlin; written by Tom Balmforth; edited by Andrew Osborn and Timothy Heritage)