“In case madness prevails”: Russia sharply raised the stakes ahead of the EU summit

Despite the fact that the EU countries are a major trading partner of Russia, Moscow is ready to sever economic relations with the European Union if the West continues to impose unjustified sanctions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated this in an interview with TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

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“We proceed from the fact that we are neighbors with the EU, they are still, if we take them as a collective trading partner, our largest trading partner, largest investment partner. Many companies operate here, joint ventures number in the hundreds and thousands.

And if the business is mutually beneficial, then we will continue it. But if we see once again, as we have felt more than once, that sanctions are being imposed in some areas that create risks for our economy, including in the most sensitive areas - the supply of components, some components... We are militarily have already become completely self-sufficient - we need to achieve the same in the economy.

Yes, we do not want to isolate ourselves from world life. But you have to be prepared for this, if you want peace, prepare for war,” Lavrov said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified the minister’s words, calling on the media not to present sensational headlines about the break with the EU “without context.”

“This is a big mistake by the media, which changes the meaning. The point is that we don't want this. We want to develop relations with the EU. But if the European Union follows this path, then yes, we will be ready for a break, because we must be prepared for the worst. This is what the minister was talking about. But the meaning was distorted and it was presented that Russia would almost initiate a severance of relations with the EU,” Peskov said.

“We must be self-sufficient, we must ensure security in sensitive strategic areas and we must be ready to replace with national infrastructure everything that they want to deprive us of. This is in case madness prevails and such unfriendly manifestations take place,” the Kremlin spokesman added.

Political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov explains in the Telegram channel “Russia in Global Affairs” that Lavrov’s harsh statements “raise the stakes in anticipation of the European Council meeting on February 22, where sanctions against Russia will be discussed.”

“It is more likely that the EU will not agree to such an aggravation. Nobody needs an economic war with Russia now, there are already enough problems. But if it does go ahead, for example, for reasons of the need for political consolidation, it will be interesting how it will all look. One can imagine a severance of relations with the European Union in the form of cessation of missions in Moscow and Brussels. For example, under the pretext of blatant interference in the internal affairs of Russia, which the minister insistently talks about in an interview. This will conclude the political dialogue.

But what to do with the trade and economic dialogue, which is largely within the competence of European institutions, and not individual countries, is unclear. And should we expect, for example, the denunciation of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, the basis of our relations with the EU?

The situation promises to be extremely extraordinary. The destruction of the entire scheme, which had been in effect for almost 30 years,” the commentary says.