Pushkov criticizes Canada for aggressive sanctions against Russia
MOSCOW. June 30 (Interfax) - The purpose of the Western sanctions policy is to unleash a 'Cold War', State Duma International Affairs Committee Chairman Alexei Pushkov has said.
"The sanctions policy is playing into the hands of political forces existing overseas and on the European continent which want to thrust another Cold War on Europe," Pushkov said at a State Duma meeting on Tuesday, speaking on behalf of the United Russia faction during the Hour of Statements.
Russia is opposed to sanctions, but, as is well-known, the principle of "non-resistance to evil does not work" in politics, the committee chairman said.
In the words of Pushkov, Russia should be discriminative in applying countermeasures.
"It seems to me that we should respond in a special manner to the most aggressive manifestations of the sanctions policy," Pushkov said.
He said that he implied Canada in the first turn.
"The government of that country is trying to bolster its rather low profile role in international affairs and the objective shortage of weight and authority through high activity in the field of the sanctions policy," Pushkov said.
He reminded the audience that Canada decided to broaden the sanctions on Monday by adding to the blacklists a number of large Russian enterprises and three persons, who "by the way had nothing to do with the mechanism of making political decisions in Russia; these are public figures, representatives of the Eurasian Youth Union and some others, which means that people were put under sanctions for their viewpoint. I think this is absolutely obvious."
Pushkov said they should not pretend that nothing was happening.
