A ‘Trans-Atlantic bunch of the United States and the European Union sparks, Russia's Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said.
"We have seen that since the new US administration came to power and even earlier," the senior diplomat noted.
He pointed out that Washington and Brussels had differences on a number of issues, such as the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Iranian nuclear deal.
"They also have in economic area that emerged some time ago. I recall that recently there was a case of the French bank BNP Paribas that was targeted by a total of $9-billion fine for the cooperation with the countries targeted by US sanctions. I think that 'Dieselgate' around Volkswagen also has a political and commercial background. I am not even talking about the WTO hearing of a case between Airbus and Boeing that has been going on for decades," Sputnik cited Chizhov as saying.
He added that the new US sanctions targeting Russia were also fueled by economic motives.
"Following the criticism of the Nord Stream 2 project, the US lawmakers without batting an eyelid wrote that the US administration must seek energy supplies to Europe. And then it is even more honestly said that this is necessary in order to create jobs in the United States. Now, there it was, an ‘honest competition,’" the envoy added.
