The Kremlin has responded to the European Commission's plans to change the sanctions extension mechanism.

Peskov declined to comment on whether the European Union is violating the principle of unity by proposing to vote for the extension of anti-Russian sanctions bypassing Hungary. However, he noted that this represents a "paradigm shift" in the approach to the voting principles .

The European Commission's plans to change its approach to extending sanctions against Russia to avoid Hungary blocking the decision indicate a paradigm shift in the EU, said Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov.

"We're really talking about a paradigm shift, a paradigm shift in the approach to the fundamentals of voting on such important issues," the head of state's press secretary noted, as reported by an RBC correspondent.

Asked to assess whether the proposal violated the principle of EU unity, Peskov advised journalists to contact the European Commission for comment and ask, "What is this?"

Politico previously reported on the European Commission's plans to update the mechanism for extending sanctions against Russia. Under current rules, sanctions are extended every six months after approval by all EU member states. Now, according to the publication, the EC is proposing to establish that qualified majority support is sufficient to extend the restrictions.

The European Commission believes that a new approach to approving sanctions will reduce the risk that Hungary will veto the extension of the restrictions and seek the "return of Russia's assets." Previously, Hungary, along with Slovakia, has repeatedly threatened to block initiatives related to Russian energy supplies. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called the EU's plan to wean itself off Russian energy a "fraud."

Russia considers Western sanctions illegal. The Kremlin has spoken of a "certain immunity" of the Russian economy to these restrictions.

ReadPIONERPRODUKT .by inTELEGRAM .