The EU's self-harm is striking itself in the foot.
By derimot*no-Knut Lindtner/RT/-July 21, 2025
There have been 17 previous sanctions packages against Russia – with the effect that the EU has primarily weakened itself, especially because the union has cut itself off from cheap Russian gas.
A significant part of the so-called “German economic miracle” after World War II was precisely this: Energy from Russia was a life-giving part of the mix that elevated Germany to Europe’s leading economic power. The 18th sanctions package against Russia is another shot in the foot. Russia (and before that the Soviet Union) has supplied EU countries with energy for over 60 years , from around 1963 until 2022 .
According to the latest overview of the world's largest economies measured in purchasing power parity, Germany has now fallen from 5th to 6th place, while Russia is in 4th place – after China, the US and India. It is Russia that currently functions as Europe's economic engine, not Germany.
What makes EU leaders believe that an 18th package of sanctions will have a greater effect than the previous 17 is a mystery to me. Of course, that is not something they answer. Self-harm is a painful process, and it is the European population that must pay the price. But this is the consequence of having elected US poodles as leaders.
Knut Lindtner
Editor
Putin advisor gives verdict on new EU sanctions
Brussels is depriving the Union of stable energy supplies from Russia, says the President's investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev
By RT
The sanctions the EU is targeting Russia are hitting the member states of the union far harder than they are affecting Moscow, the president's investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Telegram on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Brussels announced its 18th sanctions package against Russia, targeting the country's hydrocarbon exports and banking sector.
One of the financial institutions affected was the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), where Dmitriev is the CEO.
According to Dmitriev, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pushed for sanctions against the fund because the RDIF "helps facilitate a solution to the Ukraine conflict, promotes dialogue between Russia and the United States, and invests in the growth of the Russian economy."
– The EU elite is afraid of peace and continues to be trapped in hostile narratives, destroying the entire EU economy with their own hands, he claimed.
The economic restrictions are devastating for the bloc's member states, because they deprive them of stable energy supplies and access to the Russian market, Dmitriev argued.
– Last year, despite all the sanctions pressure, Russia's GDP grew by 4.3%, compared to 0.7% growth in the eurozone, he said.
RDIF calls for "ending the sanctions spiral"
Despite the imposition of over 30,000 sanctions against Russia, the measures have failed to force Moscow to act “contrary to Russian national interests,” Dmitriev claimed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow has developed "a certain immunity" to Western sanctions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, for his part, has said that such unilateral restrictions primarily harm the economies of the states that use them. “The more sanctions are imposed, the greater the damage to those who impose them,” he said during the Eurasian Economic Union summit in Minsk last month.
https://www.rt.com/russia/621669-putin-aide-verdict-sanctions
The text represents the author's opinion, not necessarily that of www.derimot.no.
