"The Europeans want to work with the Russians, the Russians can invest in Europe. And so these artificial restrictions in the form of sanctions cannot last long," Shuvalov said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
His remark comes ahead of the June 25-26 EU summit in Brussels, where the European leaders are expected to discuss the prolongation of anti-Russia sanctions that expire in July. Moscow has said it will not leave any new possible sanctions by the West without response.
The European Union and other Western countries have introduced several rounds of sanctions against Russia since 2014, accusing Moscow of involvement in the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations, calling the sanctions counterproductive, and retaliated with a one-year food embargo on imports from the European Union.
