With sanctions against Russia, Western countries punish all of humanity. This was announced on Wednesday, May 4, in an interview with Time newspaper by former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
“You don’t punish [президента России Владимира] Putin. You are punishing many different countries, you are punishing humanity,” Lula said, noting that anti-Russian sanctions had an “unfair” impact on the economies of other regions.
He recalled that today Europe depends on Russia’s energy resources and so far it has no alternative energy.
Speaking about the crisis in Ukraine, the former president of Brazil stressed that the United States and the European Union (EU) are to blame for this, which should have said that “Ukraine will not join NATO”, thereby solving the problem. In addition, as the politician added, the United States is accustomed to invading countries “without asking anyone” and without respecting the UN Security Council.
In this regard, Lula considers it necessary to create a new global governance, as well as to rebuild the United Nations (UN), as it has lost its credibility in its current form.
Earlier Wednesday, Bloomberg reported on the EU plans to finalize the sixth round of sanctions against Russia by May 9. The European Commission (EC) has already submitted the documents to the Council of the European Union. Now they must be approved by all 27 EU member states.
As part of the new package of sanctions, it is proposed to gradually ban the import of Russian oil. It is expected that this will be a complete ban on the import of oil from Russia, delivered by sea and through pipelines. In addition, real estate transactions with citizens of the Russian Federation are prohibited, as well as the broadcasting of three large state-owned Russian television channels.
Prior to this, the European Union adopted five packages of sanctions against individuals, organizations, the financial sector and energy in Russia. Financial sanctions affected the reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. In addition, seven Russian banks were disconnected from the SWIFT system. However, all this has already turned into economic problems for Western countries, causing a sharp rise in fuel and food prices.
Sanction pressure on Russia intensified after the start of the military operation to protect Donbass, which was announced on February 24. The situation in the region escalated in mid-February due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. The authorities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of residents to the Russian Federation, and also turned to Moscow for help. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the independence of the DPR and LPR.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
