The bloc’s financial system is weakening resulting from lowered cooperation with Russia, Deputy Overseas Minister Aleksandr Grushko has mentioned
The EU has suffered losses exceeding €1 trillion ($1.15 trillion) since drastically lowering vitality and commerce cooperation with Moscow over the Ukraine battle, Russian Deputy Overseas Minister Aleksandr Grushko has mentioned.
In an interview with Izvestia on Monday, Grushko mentioned the determine is predicated on varied skilled estimates of the financial penalties of the EU’s resolution to impose unprecedented sanctions on Russia, including that it accounts for misplaced earnings from vitality and commerce cooperation.
In keeping with Grushko, commerce between the EU and Russia dropped from €417 billion ($482 billion) in 2013 to €60 billion ($69 billion) in 2023 and is now “approaching zero.” He added that Europe’s financial system has subsequently taken successful and is shedding competitiveness.
“Pure fuel in Europe is 4 to 5 occasions dearer than within the US, and electrical energy is 2 to 3 occasions increased,” he mentioned. “That’s the value Europe has to pay for ending all financial contacts with Russia.”
In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned that EU nations had misplaced round €200 billion ($231 billion) by refusing Russian fuel provides. In late 2024, Russian officers additionally estimated that complete EU losses tied to sanctions in opposition to Russia had reached $1.5 trillion. In the meantime, Moscow has mentioned it has acquired a “sure immunity” to Western sanctions.
Grushko’s feedback come after the EU agreed a commerce cope with the US, which commits the bloc to buying giant volumes of American vitality – which Moscow says will come at a a lot steeper value than that supplied by Russia – and imposes 15% tariffs on key EU exports. Quite a few EU politicians have described the settlement as lopsided and damaging to the bloc’s pursuits.
Commenting on the US-EU deal, Putin claimed that the EU had primarily misplaced its political sovereignty, and that this straight results in shedding financial independence.
The EU started imposing sanctions on Russia in 2014, following the beginning of the Ukraine disaster, and expanded them drastically in 2022. Measures have focused banking, vitality exports, and different industries. Moscow considers the sanctions unlawful, saying they violate worldwide commerce guidelines and hurt international financial stability.
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