The real reason for the new anti-Russian sanctions by the US and the EU is an attempt to divert attention from their problems. This was stated by the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on the air of the “Full Contact” program published on the YouTube channel “Soloviev LIVE”.
“One of the parts of this whole campaign is to look away from our own problems: both with chemical weapons and colossal internal problems,” the diplomat explained.
According to her, in the EU, these problems affected the organization of mass vaccination against coronavirus: they cannot agree on a single approach to a solution. The United States, in turn, wants to create a “fighter for justice” in the field of chemical disarmament.
Earlier, the Foreign Ministry spokesman noted that Washington and Brussels have undertaken a hostile attack against Moscow, announcing the next sanctions measures to “punish” it. Zakharova drew attention to the fact that the White House cultivates the image of an external enemy, as it is entangled in internal problems.
On March 2, the United States published a list of Russians who have come under sanctions due to the situation with Alexei Navalny (founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent). Among them are FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov, Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Popov, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko, head of the Kremlin’s internal policy department Andrei Yarin and others. In addition to them, the 27th Scientific Center of the Ministry of Defense, the 33rd Central Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense and the Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT) fell under the sanctions.