Russia says EU candidate status for Ukraine will have negative consequences

25/6/2022 7:14

        Russia on Friday said the decision by
        European Union leaders to accept Ukraine and Moldova as
        membership candidates would have negative consequences and
        amounted to the EU's "enslaving" neighbouring countries.
        
        Although it could take years for the countries to join the
        European bloc, the decision to accept them as candidates is a
        symbol of the EU's intention to reach deep into the former
        Soviet Union.
        
        Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign
        ministry, called the move an attempt to encroach on Russia's
        sphere of influence within the Commonwealth of Independent
        States (CIS) made up of ex-Soviet states.
        
        "With the decision to grant Ukraine and Moldova the status
        of candidate countries, the European Union has confirmed that it
        continues to actively exploit the CIS on a geopolitical level,
        to use it to 'contain' Russia," she said in a statement.
        
        "They are not thinking of the negative consequences of such
        a step."
        
        By expanding to Ukraine and Moldova, two former Soviet
        republics, Zakharova said, the EU was sacrificing its democratic
        ideals at the expense of "unrestrained expansion and the
        political and economic enslavement of its neighbours."