MFA: EU’s anti-Russian measures leading to Europe’s deindustrialisation

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the European Union of using an imaginary Russian threat as a pretext to feed Europeans not just propaganda “pills,” but whole “pots of castor oil.”

Speaking on Sputnik radio, Zakharova commented on the recent deal between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump, Caliber.Az reports, referring to Russian media.

Under the agreement, Washington will impose a 15% tariff on about 75% of European exports starting August 1, replacing Trump’s earlier threat of a 30% tariff on all European exports. In return, the European Commission pledged to fully ban imports of Russian energy resources and to purchase $750 billion worth of American oil, gas, nuclear equipment, and fuel, as well as to invest $600 billion in the American digital sector.

Zakharova quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s assessment of the deal, saying, “Because all that has been done is to lay the groundwork, to lay the pontoons, to lay the foundation for the deindustrialisation of Europe.”

She called the situation “nonsense” and said, “Nothing like this has happened in the last century, or even several centuries. Because it was Europe that was at the forefront of industrialisation.”

Addressing European citizens, Zakharova asked, “Does every citizen of Western Europe even understand what decisions are being made?” She added that “the decisions they are being fed are obviously embellished, seasoned, and sprinkled with stories about the Russian threat, and that what is happening must be done this way, otherwise, as they themselves say, ‘Russia will attack.’”

She emphasised that “they are not discussing this in a hypothetical dimension, they are asserting it.” Then she concluded with a vivid metaphor: “And at this moment, they are being fed not even pills, but some kind of pots with castor oil.”

By Tamilla Hasanova