RZHEV /Tver Region/, July 27. /TASS/. The EU's decision to impose sanctions against Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky is vile and cowardly, driven in part by his efforts to restore the memory of the Great Patriotic War, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing.

"The fact that we are gathered here now, in Rzhev, at the foot of the soldier's monument, is a colossal achievement. The fact that he personally participated in restoring the memory of the events near Rzhev, of those great battles, of the colossal sacrifices made by the people who have lived here since time immemorial - of course, this could not pass by, and they [the EU] took advantage of this opportunity and, in such a vile and cowardly manner, did what they did," the spokeswoman said.

"Now Vladimir Medinsky has been placed under EU sanctions. And what did they charge him with? It is simply mind-boggling: they charged him with participating in the negotiation process with Ukraine, which Ukraine, the Kiev regime, requested and proposed itself, and which the West supported," Zakharova pointed out. "Just because Vladimir Medinsky participated in peace talks, he has now been put on sanctions lists. But I believe he was blacklisted not for that, of course, but for the colossal historical work he has been conducting."