The EC called Britain's easing of sanctions against Russia a surprise for the EU

The British authorities, having decided to partially lift energy sanctions against Russia at the G7 meeting, did not notify the European Union (EU) authorities about this, so it came as a complete surprise to Europe. This was announced on May 21 by European Commissioner for Economics Valdis Dombrovskis.

"As for the issue of the UK's partial withdrawal in support of certain sanctions against Russia in the energy sector, indeed, this was not what we expected, and it was not noted during our meeting of G7 finance ministers earlier this week. So it came as a surprise," he said.

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