Russia’s envoy to EU: "Critical mass" against anti-Russian sanctions is being formed in EU

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MOSCOW, December 14. /TASS/. The "critical mass" of those who are discontent with sanctions against Russia is being formed in the EU, Russia’s envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel on Monday.

"The critical mass is about to emerge. At a certain moment it will emerge and the relevant decisions will be taken — we won’t speculate," he said speaking about the change in the attitude towards the anti-Russian sanctions.

According to him, Italy’s demarche last week did not mean that the sanctions should be lifted immediately but were aimed at launching a discussion within the EU on the political level.

"The attempt to prolong sanctions on the sly did not work," the diplomat concluded.

In early December, Italy, Luxembourg and several other countries of the EU spoke against the automatic prolongation of sanctions against Russia. They urged consideration of this move on the level EU Foreign Ministers and heads of the states.