Moscow : Russia Wednesday mocked a European Council (EC) decision to bar its president from visiting Moscow.
EC President Herman Van Rompuy requested an urgent visit to Russia Monday to hear the Russian opinion about the crisis in Ukraine ahead of a European Union (EU) summit, Xinhua reported citing a Russian foreign ministry statement.
Van Rompuy’s wish was “commendable,” Moscow said, but by imposing a travel ban, Brussels was actually unwilling to know the truth about the developments in Ukraine.
“They have a new blacklist now, that of EU officials prohibited to visit Russia. Ironically, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy tops this list,” said the statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty Tuesday with leaders of Crimea to accept the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as part of Russian territory, defying condemnation and further sanctions by the West.
Claiming Crimea used to be and would be an “inseparable” part of Russia, Putin slammed the West for bringing “no democracy and freedom but chaos and violence”.
“We were cheated repeatedly by the West,” he said.