The Kremlin says there are no prerequisites for changes in Russia-EU relations under Trump

Nothing so far foreshadows a change in relations between Russia and Europe after US President-elect Donald Trump comes to power. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on December 18 on air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel .

"Nothing so far portends this, because Europe has lost its independence. It looks like it is doing it deliberately, because the modern leaders [of the EU countries] have given their autonomy to the U.S. at the mercy of the United States. Therefore, whether it will change or not, it is difficult to assume now," Peskov said, responding to a related question from journalists.

In addition, Peskov commented on the situation with the EU sanctions policy against Russia.

"You see that for almost three years of this sanctions marathon we have actually stagnation in Europe and a fairly high rate of development of our economy for us," the Kremlin spokesman said.

Russia will continue to carefully analyze and do everything necessary to minimize the consequences of sanctions, Peskov stressed.

Hungary and Slovakia will remain on the list of unfriendly countries

Despite dialog with Moscow, Budapest and Bratislava follow EU and NATO policies

Earlier in the day, Foreign Policy magazine reported that the West seeks to have time to seize Russian frozen assets before Trump's inauguration. It was noted that this is due to the fact that the new US administration is hostile to further support for Ukraine. In addition, financial and military aid from the West is at risk. According to the latest data, the G7 countries (G7), the EU and Australia have frozen €260 billion in Central Bank assets since February 2022.

Also on this day, Newsweek newspaper wrote about the fact that the leaders of the EU countries in conversations with the President-elect of the United States insist on the need to maintain military support for Ukraine.

Earlier, on December 16, the EU foreign ministers approved the 15th package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia. The list of restrictions includes 54 individuals and 30 organizations. On 17 December, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that the EU had started preparing the 16th package of sanctions against Russia.