Economies across the European Union will lose about €40 billion this year, with the damage estimated to widen to €50 billion in 2015, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, citing figures from the EU itself, reports GHN based on RT.
There are so far no exact figures for the damage incurred, but the European Union has made some preliminary estimates and said the damage could be as high as €40 billion this year, Sergey Lavrov said.
The Foreign Minister was addressing a group of business leaders at the Association of European Businesses (AEB), a Moscow-based lobby group that represents the interests of more than 600 European companies in Russia.
Lavrov called forsanctions against Russia that target state-owned companies as well as individuals, to be lifted. Then Russia would cancel the country's one-year food ban against the EU, a penalty which could cost the EU $6.6 billion in exports.
"Decisions in Brussels, in particular, to impose sanctions against Russia, were made under strong American pressure," Lavrov said.
Russia announced the food ban in August, but only after the West had introduced several rounds of sanctions over the country's perceived role in the Ukraine crisis.
According to Lavrov, sanctions are a "one-way tool" and that Russia never wanted to join the tit-for-tat political game - but was forced to.