The Council of Federation compared Europe, which has adopted a new package of sanctions, to a runner

The European Union's (EU) attitude towards Russia resembles that of an accelerated runner who cannot stop and continues to move by inertia. Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy head of the Federation Council's International Committee, said this on Monday, February 24, commenting on the adoption of the 16th package of anti-Russian sanctions.

According to the senator, the Europeans are trying to do something else in order to solve the task they have been facing for many years - to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. But if they were smarter, they would realize that sanctions have no effect and there are ways to circumvent them.

"And on the courts that they are supposedly going to block, and on aluminum, all these cases are stretching for more than one year, so I think they will not even have time to implement their plans for these sanctions when they themselves run to remove them, because Europe, unfortunately, is moving in a negative direction, that is, not in terms of economic growth, but in terms of its curtailing, its shrinking. So, in my opinion, we should be calm about it. This bellicose spirit in Europe will sooner or later subside without American support, and they will realize that they are the biggest losers in this confrontation," Dzhabarov told Lenta.Ru.

Earlier in the day, EU foreign ministers approved the 16th package of sanctions against Russia, RT reports.

The sanctions list includes 48 individuals and 35 organizations. In addition, the EU foreign ministers decided to ban 13 banks from access to the SWIFT system, 360.ru reports. Restrictions are also imposed on imports of chrome, some chemicals and on the maintenance of oil and gas processing plants.

According to the text of the EU statement, the sanctions additionally affected 74 vessels that allegedly belong to Russia's shadow fleet.

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On February 19, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy Maxim Topilin told Izvestia that any anti-Russian sanctions are a violation of international trade rules and a manifestation of the agony of European regimes.

Earlier, on February 18, European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said that the EU had no plans to lift sanctions against Russia, even if the United States made such a decision, Life.Ru reported.