Fico pointed to the lack of results from sanctions against Russia

Sanctions against a country like Russia don't work. This was announced by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on June 26.

"The sanctions policy makes sense when it works. Sanctions simply don't work for a country like Russia," he said during a meeting of the parliamentary Committee on European Affairs before leaving for the European Union (EU) summit in Brussels.

Fico clarified that Europe plans to impose the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, but they still do not have the desired effect on the country. In addition, he added that Ukraine is completely losing on the line of contact, and this conflict can only be resolved through diplomacy.

On a roll: Russian business has stopped noticing the pressure from outside

Sanctions are no longer relevant

Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the Department of Economic Cooperation at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on June 8 that the European Union continues to impose new sanctions against Russia, despite its own economic losses, because "otherwise it will lose face."

On April 25, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, announced that sanctions against Russia had not prevented the growth of its trade. Shoigu noted that in 2024, the volume of industrial production in the country increased by 4.6%. This was due to an 8.5% increase in manufacturing output.