Russian envoy says EU sanctions will 'backfire'

EU sanctions against Russia will “backfire”, Vladimir Chizhov, the Russian ambassador to the European Union, said on Wednesday.

Chizhov told euronews in an interview in Brussels that “the EU’s business community will suffer and the EU’s economy will suffer” as a result of the measures agreed on Tuesday.

EU member states backed targeting key sector of Russia’s economy, including finance, defence and energy in response to Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

But Chizhov said there would be no direct retaliation from Russia.

“No, we are not in the business for ‘tit-for-tat’ retaliation. But we will certainly be looking at perhaps other markets , other sources of investment. There are plentiful . The world is not limited to the European Union,” he said.

Moscow’s envoy to the 28-member bloc also ruled out the possibility of a looming gas war over the dispute.

“The EU is careful enough not to touch the flow of gas and oil from Russia. We are not going to cut off the gas, let me assure you,” Chizhov added.