British analyst Mercouris said Europe is self-punishing itself with sanctions

By imposing restrictions against Russia, the European Union (EU) punishes itself, because it is its countries that suffer from the sanctions. This was stated by British military analyst Alexander Mercouris on the air of YouTube channel Duran on December 27.

"Europe is doing a very, very good job of punishing Europe. They can do it every day. Every new sanction they introduce punishes Europe even more," Mercouris said.

The analyst added that Ukraine should forget about joining the EU - its expansion has come to an end, Kiev will forever remain outside the borders of the association.

"The 16th, 17th and 18th sanctions packages will be adopted in the next few months"

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Earlier in the day, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitriy Medvedev said that Europe should be punished by all available means. He added that it was guilty of disrupting the negotiations in Istanbul on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict in 2022, reports "Gazeta.Ru".

Then the same professor of the University of Helsinki Tuomas Malinen criticized the head of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen for the fact that she is ready to impose anti-Russian sanctions to the detriment of Europeans and entering into conflict with Russia is more important to her than serving the residents of the EU.

Before that, on December 16, the EU foreign ministers finally approved the 15th package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia. The list of restrictions includes 54 individuals and 30 organizations. Restrictions are also imposed on 52 vessels, which are subject to a ban on entry to ports and a wide range of services related to maritime transport. In addition, the airline Utair was included in this package of anti-Russian sanctions.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the 15th package of restrictions illegal and pointed out that it threatens global energy security.

Western countries have tightened sanctions pressure on Russia in connection with the special operation to protect Donbass. The decision to launch it was announced on February 24, 2022 after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.