MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti) – The EU decision to lift restrictions on deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine shows that Europe does not care at all about democratic principles, first deputy head of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Kalashnikov said Saturday.
“This only confirms once again double standards advocated by the West… The Europeans do only what they believe to be right neglecting all international laws and democratic principles, which they pretend to be complying with,” Kalashnikov told RIA Novosti.
As an example of such double standards the lawmaker cites a ban on entry to the EU countries imposed on a number of Russian politicians. According to Kalashnikov, this measure contradicts freedom of speech and opinion.
In his turn State Duma Deputy and Defense Committee member Igor Zotov stressed that Western countries and Kiev do everything possible to blame Russia, as well as people who want to live in a democratic country, by which he means Novorossiya, the union of self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics in eastern Ukraine.
“It is no wonder that various restrictions aimed at strengthening Kiev are being lifted, so that Novorossiya would once again feel pressured,” Zotov told RIA Novosti.
Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the EU member states have agreed «behind the back» to lift restrictions on supplying Kiev with military equipment that may be used for internal repressions.
The ministry said the move is another example of the double-standards policy and runs counter to the rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment adopted by the EU Council on December 8, 2008.
