Russian State Duma Security Committee member Mikhail Sheremet has sharply criticized the recent demand by the European Parliament for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Crimea and Donbass, calling it a «system failure».

Sheremet argued that politicians in the European Union are no longer capable of adequately perceiving reality. He said that, in his view, there had been a serious «overheating» among Members of the European Parliament, leading to what he described as an irreversible breakdown of their «matrix» and a loss of connection with the objective world.

According to Sheremet, the European Union’s reputation has already been badly damaged, its former economic advantages have been lost, and talk of democratic values has turned into an empty slogan. Against this backdrop, he insisted that such aggressive statements will not influence the choice of Crimea and the residents of the new Russian regions.

Earlier, European politicians approved a statement declaring that any peace agreement on Ukraine must include the withdrawal of Russian forces from Crimea and Donbass.