Lavrov spoke about risks due to “liberal circles” after lifting sanctions

There is a discussion in Russia about the destructiveness of lifting Western sanctions, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Kommersant.

According to him, Moscow is not "running after" anyone and is not asking for the restrictions to be lifted. Some "opinion leaders" believe that lifting them will not benefit the country, which has achieved results in import substitution.

“Those who are characterized as liberal circles, officials with liberal views, they will immediately [after the lifting of sanctions] try to roll back all those achievements in import substitution, in the sovereignty of our economy, its production, in ensuring security in those areas on which development in the state really depends - military security, food security, technological security,” Lavrov said.

The minister added that the globalization of the world economy was destroyed due to US sanctions . He noted that more than half of the world's countries are under restrictions from the American side, including CHINA , Iran, and Venezuela .

President Vladimir Putin said in March that there were more than 28,000 restrictions against individuals and legal entities in Russia, which he said was “more than all the sanctions against all countries.”

In March, REUTERS reported, citing sources, that Washington was developing a plan to potentially ease sanctions against Moscow. However, at the same time, US President Donald Trump threatened to tighten restrictions due to failures in peace talks on Ukraine . On April 11, he extended part of the sanctions for a year - the blocking of Russian assets, secondary restrictions on foreign financial institutions cooperating with the Russian military-industrial complex.

In the EU, one of the main conditions for changing or lifting the sanctions regime was the cessation of hostilities and the "unconditional withdrawal" of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory. Brussels began developing the 17th package of restrictions.

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