SOCHI, February 13. /TASS/. The anti-Russian sanctions of the European Union in light of the situation in the Kerch Strait are being taken under Washington’s powerful pressure, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday, commenting on reports of possible new sanctions of the EU and the US against Russia.

"We said long ago that we do not discuss sanctions with anyone. We want to improve our economy and trade with normal Western partners so that not to depend on anybody’s whims - in this case the whims of those who did not keep their word and did not make the opposition carry out their agreements with [former Ukrainian] President [Viktor] Yanukovich," the minister noted.

"We are also dealing with the people who introduced sanctions over the Crimeans’ expression of will and over the events evolving in the region in general, in particular in eastern Ukraine."

"I see it as another evidence of the Europeans’ inability to make [Ukrainian President Pyotr] Poroshenko implement the Minsk accords. As far as they cannot rule their clients, something has to be done, and they resorted to another package of sanctions," Lavrov pointed out.