The EU cannot survive without cooperation with Russia and the BRICS countries, Putin Kosachev said in an interview with RT. Kosachev also noted that the EU needs Russia more than Russia needs the EU.
The deputy president of the Russian Senate said that the sanctions imposed on Russia create a significant barrier to any real cooperation with the EU.
The European Union has imposed 14 rounds of sanctions against Russia after the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022. The measures target foreign reserves of the Russian Central Bank, major Russian banks, many companies, businessmen, politicians and officials, along with a ban on many imports and exports.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called the sanctions illegal, while President Vladimir Putin has described them as unjustified.
Kosachev pointed out that lifting these sanctions would require the consensus of EU countries and that even if the majority supported their removal, disagreements from just a few countries could still off track such an initiative.
Kosachev concluded that the EU was stuck in "buying ropes to tie itself up", which was not in the interests of the EU.
"The EU is in a trap. And this is not in the interests of the European Union," the deputy head of the Russian Federation Council stressed. Although he believes Russia will continue to develop independently of the EU, he affirmed that the existence of the EU depends on its cooperation with Russia and other BRICS countries.
In early November, President Vladimir Putin said that Western efforts to isolate Russia economically and politically had finally failed.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said that the total damage caused by the EU's imposition of sanctions on Russia and restrictions on the country's economic activities is believed to be around 1,500 billion USD, according to "the most cautious estimate".
According to some EU countries, the sanctions have hurt the bloc more than Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned that the EU's sanctions policy needs to be reviewed or there will be a risk of destroying the European economy.
Meanwhile, the BRICS 2024 summit held in Kazan last October - the first since the expanded group to include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates - stressed that Russia remains globally connected despite Western sanctions.
Delegations from 35 countries attended the BRICS 2024 summit. More than 30 countries, including NATO member Türkiye, have expressed interest in joining BRICS. BRICS currently accounts for about 37.3% of global GDP compared to 14.5% for the EU.
