Diplomats Say Russia Targets Bulgaria, 6 Other EU States in Drive to Kill Sanctions - Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the annual Q&A nationwide live-broadcast television and radio shows 'Direct Line with Vladimir Putin' in Moscow, Russia, April 14, 2016. EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria and six other EU Member States of southern and eastern Europe is one of the main targets of Russia’s efforts to end the economic sanctions of the bloc imposed over the Ukraine crisis, Reuters has reported, citing diplomats.

According to several unnamed Moscow-based EU diplomats, “Russia's tactic of methodically lobbying southern and eastern EU member states is starting to seriously erode the bloc's unity on the issue, making it potentially harder to renew them next time,” Reuters said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Slovenia on Saturday is part of the Russia’s diplomatic offensive to find a way around the sanctions by “targeting countries it thinks are softer”, one diplomat has said.

According to diplomats, Moscow aims to lure some EU member states with “offers of lucrative trade deals and polite reminders of lost export revenues” and EU’s unity begins to crack because of the negative impact of the Russian counter-sanctions, which banned many food imports from the EU, on European farmers.

Diplomats listed Italy, Greece, Hungary, Cyprus, Slovenia, Slovakia and Bulgaria among "Moscow's prime targets," Reuters said.

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