In Cyprus and Italy, MPs vote to lift anti-Russian sanctions

By Vladimir V. Sytin
The Ukrainian Times

Recently, the parliament of Cyprus has passed a resolution to lift anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the United States and its European vassals in connection with a civil war in the Donbas region with large Russian populations. MPs are ready to discuss the problem with Moscow, particularly the relaxation of restrictions on the export of goods from Cyprus to Russia.

Believe it or not, the regional council of Tuscany passed a similar resolution on July 6 while the parliaments of Veneto and Liguria recognized the reunification of Crimea with Russia, and so did the regional council of Lombardy on July 5. Italian MPs say they want to build bridges, not walls. 

Previously, France’s Senate passed a resolution by 302 to 16 on June 8 to lift the anti-Russian sanctions. According to top politicians, Russia remains the strategic partner of France.

Readers of The Ukrainian Times know that Israel did not support the anti-Russian sanctions because Israel and Russia have vital mutual interests. The Ambassador of Israel to Ukraine pointed out that Israeli authorities could not influence private companies and natural persons doing business in Crimea. It is worth recalling that the Crimeans, with an extremely high turnout never experienced in the so-called “western democracies”, voted 97.6% to rejoin Russia, where Crimea resided for longer that the U.S. existed, until Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian, transferred Crimea from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic when both were within the Soviet Union.

Many critics believe that the sanctions against Russia and saber rattling by the West will only make matters worse. Russia provides a third of the EU’s oil and nearly 40% of its natural gas.