BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — Russia's Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told Sputnik on Thursday he expected the anti-Russia sanctions imposed by the European Union to be lifted before Brexit is officially negotiated and completed.
"One can assume a hypothetical situation when, after leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom decides to refuse to participate in the EU sanctions. But I still hope that the issue of sanctions will resolve itself before the UK withdrawal from the European Union," Chizhov said.
Ties between Europe and Russia soured in 2014 after Ukraine’s Russian-majority region of Crimea voted by landslide in a referendum to rejoin Russia. This move prompted Brussels to impose sanctions against Russia and accuse the country of stoking unrest in southeastern Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Commenting on the issue of Brexit itself, Chizhov said that it would take place but would not be a success for any of the involved parties.
The energy policy of the European Commission has become more practical, with "reasonable solutions" found for several issues, including the Opal gas pipeline, according to Vladimir Chizhov.
"There is more pragmatism [in the Commission's policy]… A number of reasonable solutions has been found for several practical issues," Chizhov said.
Chizhov noted that Moscow was expecting "a positive outcome on the Turkish Stream" pipeline expected to run from Russia to Turkey through the Black Sea.
Chizhov referred to Nord Stream and Turkish Stream projects as Russia's "important contribution to the strengthening of Europe's energetic security."
Last Sunday, Gazprom began building the sea strip of the Turkish Stream. Russian and Turkey agreed to build two lines, with carrying capacity of 15.75 billion cubic meters of gas each. One line is expected to deliver gas directly to Turkey, another one is for the transit of gas to Europe.
