Germany: Lavrov's comments are 'disconcerting'

The German Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it considered Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statements "really disconcerting and incomprehensible.

Russia's top diplomat said Moscow was prepared for a split with the European Union if the EU imposed new crippling sanctions amid a dispute over the treatment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

In response to a question about Moscow's willingness to rupture links with the EU,

Lavrov said in televised remarks Friday that Russia did not want to be isolated, but must become more self-sufficient to protect its economy from EU sanctions.

"As far as the statements of the Russian Foreign Minister are concerned, I can only say that from our point of view, or for us, these statements are really disconcerting and incomprehensible," said a spokesperson of the German Foreign Ministry.