Moscow-Sana
The head of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, condemned the call of European Parliament President David Sassoli to tighten sanctions on Moscow, stressing that the European Parliament is trying to poison the atmosphere of the upcoming summit meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden.
Russia Today quoted Volodin as saying in a post on his Telegram channel that "the European Parliament and its president are trying to increase their political weight, taking advantage of the upcoming meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States."
Volodin commented on Sassoli's call for tougher sanctions against Russia and on the draft declaration that the European Parliament plans to issue in mid-June on the eve of Putin's Biden summit, saying: "In fact, the European Parliament imposes on Biden an agenda characterized by a confrontational spirit on the eve of his meeting with Putin. Biden and creating a negative background for this meeting in his attempt to gain more political weight by exploiting the topics that the two presidents can discuss.”
Earlier today, the head of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian State Duma, Leonid Slutsky, denounced the European Parliament's call for tougher sanctions against Moscow, stressing that it represents a continuation of the policy of interference in Russia's internal affairs.