Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Russia was prepared to break off relations with the European Union if it continued with planned sanctions.
Lavrov was asked: “Are we heading towards a break with the EU?” in a snippet of an interview by the Solovyov-life program published on its Telegram channel and shared by the Foreign Ministry.
He responded that Russia was ready to do so in the event that sanctions are imposed in areas that create risks for Russia’s economy.
“We proceed from the fact that we’re ready [for that]. In the event that we again see sanctions imposed in some sectors that create risks for our economy, including in the most sensitive spheres,” Lavrov said.
“We don’t want to isolate ourselves from global life, but we have to be ready for that. If you want peace then prepare for war,” he said.
The full interview is due to be released later on Friday.
Kremlin backtracks
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later told reporters that Lavrov’s comments had been taken out of context, saying that Russia wanted to develop relations with Brussels, but that it must be prepared for the worst.
He blamed mass media for publishing a “sensational headline” without context, despite the Foreign Ministry publishing the excerpt from the interview earlier without context on the ministry’s website.
When asked if breaking off relations with the EU was an option in the future, he responded that Russia must “of course” be prepared to take such steps if it was hit with “extremely destructive” moves that damaged its infrastructure.
Peskov said Moscow needed to be ready to replace any of its vital infrastructure if it is deprived of necessary elements.
In a separate interview published in the Izvestia newspaper earlier on Friday, Russian permanent representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said Russia-EU talks would continue and that Borrell’s Moscow trip was a positive sign of a willingness to engage.
