MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. The United States is behind the European Union's decision to impose new sanctions on Russia over the incident in the Kerch Strait, chairman of the Russian State Duma's International Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky said on Monday.

"The political consensus of EU states on new sanctions against Russia was obviously influenced by the US. There is almost no doubt left that Washington is behind the provocation in the Kerch Strait. Ukraine is a territory governed from the outside. Such steps would hardly be possible without approval from Kiev's tutors from across the ocean," Slutsky said.

"It is especially sad that the EU, despite flashes of common sense, once again engages in policies that are not independent and remains under US influence," he added. "In the end, Brussels sacrifices its own interests for the sake of Euro-Atlantic solidarity. The fight within EU for observing norms of international law has been lost once again, while double standards and a Russophobic approach have won," he noted.

On Monday EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said EU member states have reached a political consensus on introducing new sanctions against Russia over the incident in the Kerch Strait.