Kremlin says EU decision on Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia attempt to 'annoy Russia'

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Kremlin on Friday said that the European Council's decisions to begin EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, and to grant candidate status to Georgia is an attempt to "annoy Russia."

Such a move is “largely based on the desire to annoy Russia even more and antagonize these countries toward Russia,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a press briefing in Moscow.

Peskov described the decision to start EU accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova as an "absolutely politicized decision," saying that this move could potentially "destabilize" the EU.

"The EU has always had fairly strict criteria for entry, and at the moment it is obvious that neither Ukraine nor Moldova meet these criteria. The EU is already going through not the best times in its history in terms of the functioning of this union, and from an economic point of view," Peskov also said.

He added that Moscow is closely watching developments in this regard.

On Thursday, the European Council paved the way for the expansion of the 27-member bloc by announcing the start of accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova, as well as granting candidate status to Georgia.