Russia will mirror EU sanctions over Ukraine: MP

A senior Russian lawmaker says Moscow will mirror any visa sanctions the European Union may impose on its lawmakers.

Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Russian Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Wednesday that Moscow “would respond [to the EU move] with the same measures,” AFP reported.

The lawmaker warned that such measures by the EU would amount to “an unprecedented freezing of inter-parliamentary relations” and would interfere with the work of international organizations like the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

“It would be worse than during the Cold War when contacts like this allowed some easing of international tensions,” he noted.

Pushkov added that if the EU decides to freeze contacts with Moscow, Russia will simply build relations elsewhere.

“Parliamentarians will develop links with other lawmakers outside Europe. It is only 28 countries; the world is not only the EU,” he said.

Pushkov made the remarks two days after British Prime Minister David Cameron said the EU should restrict the movement of ruling politicians in protest at Russia’s activities in Ukraine’s Crimea.

On Monday, Cameron told lawmakers that the EU was looking at “further measures, the so-called second phase, which would need to start rapidly” if Russia failed to cooperate.

“These include asset freezes and travel bans,” he said.

Last week, Crimean lawmakers voted in favor of joining neighboring Russia. The local Crimean administration is expected to hold a referendum on the region’s separation from Ukraine on March 16.

On Saturday, Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov reiterated that the referendum would go ahead as planned.

Aksyonov pointed out that “no one” is capable of cancelling the referendum on union with Russia.

Ukraine has been gripped by political crisis since November 2013, when the ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, refrained from signing the Association Agreement with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia.