Member of the European Parliament (EP) from Latvia Andrew Mamykin sent to the President of the European Commission (EC) Jose Manuela Barroso formal letter of request to lift the economic sanctions against Russia.

According to the MEP, the "war of sanctions" between the EU and Russia resembles the situation before the First world war and leads to an impasse. "This year marks 100 years since the beginning of the First world war, which claimed the lives of millions of people left Europe in ruins. On the eve of the war was similar processes, when the country was doing the "right" steps against each other and failed to stop. Hardly the end of the war, someone has already remembered, for what purposes it started", - said in a statement released today, the policy letter.

"There was a dangerous situation where neither Western countries and Ukraine on the one hand, neither Russia on the other, not looking for a compromise, and try to win by force. Each subsequent decision on sanctions is substantiated by previous action of the opponent and intentionally made stronger and more painful for the economy and residents of the other hand and at the same time his", - specifies Mamykin.

According to him, the "war of sanctions" will lose the common residents. "I was elected to the EP from a country that the EU suffer the most from this "war". According to the Minister of economy of Latvia, a further increase in the volume of reciprocal sanctions the EU and Russia could reduce GDP of Latvia on 10%. This can lead Latvia in deep economic and social crisis. "Thousands of Latvians can lose their jobs and their standard of living will decrease significantly", - he said.

In this regard, MEP calls on the EC to stop the escalation of the "war of sanctions" and the use of force and economic decisions, to intensify talks with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and groups involved in the confrontation, to find a lasting and peaceful solution to the conflict in the East of Ukraine, and also to start negotiations with Russia regarding the cancellation of the already adopted mutual sanctions.