BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th February, 2021) Berlin finds Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement on Moscow's readiness to cut ties with the European Union "strange," German Foreign Office deputy spokesperson Andrea Sasse said on Friday.
Lavrov made the statement earlier in the day, when commenting on Moscow's potential response to possible EU sanctions against economic areas that are important to Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry later clarified that Moscow would not initiate the estrangement unilaterally.
"With regard to the statement of the Russian foreign minister, I can just say that we find this statement truly strange and hard to understand," Sasse told reporters.
The spokesperson recalled one of the statements of German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in which he asserted readiness to cooperate with Russia, adding that "in this regard, Foreign Minister Lavrov's statement today appears really strange."
Asked whether Lavrov's comment could have been aimed at the public in Russia itself and, therefore, should be perceived as such in Brussels, Sasse said "we perceive of the statement the way it was made, that is as a statement addressed to us."
German cabinet spokesperson Steffen Seibert confirmed that the Foreign Office conveyed the government's official position on the matter.
