Russia calls EU Council's sanctions against the members of Crimea's election commission 'an unfriendly step'
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the sanctions of the EU Council against members of the Russian-controlled electoral commissions of the Crimea and the former Chairman of the electoral commission of Sevastopol “an unfriendly step,” as stated by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
"Russia reserves the right to give a tit-for-tat response to the European Union’s yet-again unfriendly step... The European Union’s new measures once again demonstrate its real attitude to the Crimea’s population, to their interests and aspirations," the Russian media quoted Zakharova as saying.
The EU Council has imposed sanctions against four current members of the Russian-controlled election commissions of the annexed peninsula and the former Chairman of the electoral commission of Sevastopol.
Earlier, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko announced that the Council of the European Union formally imposed sanctions against individuals responsible for conducting the Russian Presidential Elections in the annexed Crimea on March 18. Ukraine, many other countries and some international organizations refused to recognize the legitimacy of the elections on the peninsula.
On March 19, Poroshenko claimed that the results of the vote that Russia conducted in the Crimea were "insignificant" and "without legal consequences."
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted on March 22 for the resolution on non-recognition of elections of the President of Russia on the territory of annexed Crimea.