Russia is heading toward a split with EU

Russia is prepared for a split with the European Union if the EU imposes new crippling sanctions amid a dispute over the treatment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the nation's top diplomat warned Friday. In response to a question about Moscow's willingness to rupture links with the EU, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in televised remarks that Russia doesn't want to be isolated but must increase its self-sufficiency to face potential EU sanctions.We don't want to be isolated from international life, but we must be ready for that," Lavrov said. If you want peace, you must prepare for war.
Asked if Russia is heading toward a split with the European Union, Lavrov replied, We proceed from the assumption that we are ready for that.However, he emphasised the importance of economic ties with the 27 EU nations, adding that Russia would continue engaging in mutually beneficial cooperation. At the same time, Lavrov said, Russia must prepare for the worst and increasingly rely on its own resources.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said Russia wants to maintain normal ties with the EU but needs to prepare for the worst, if the bloc takes hostile actions.

Russia-EU relations have sunk to new lows over Navalny's arrest and imprisonment. The opposition leader was arrested Jan. 17 upon his return from Germany, where he spent five months recuperating from the nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have denied the allegations.European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after visiting Russia last week that the 27-nation bloc must take a firm stance in its relations with Russia and ponder new sanctions in the wake of Navalny's prison sentence. While Borrell was meeting with Lavrov, Moscow announced the expulsion of diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden for attending protests in support of Navalny.