Russia, (rt.com), 27 Dec, 2018 - The volume of trade between Russia and the European Union (EU) has been steadily growing since the beginning of 2017 despite mutual sanctions introduced almost five years ago, said Russian ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov.  

“Since the beginning of 2017, mutual trade between Russia and the European Union’s countries showed a tendency towards dynamic growth, which consolidated this year,” the envoy told Izvestia newspaper.

  
He cited statistics that in the first three quarters of 2018, trade turnover between Russia and the EU increased by 21.5 percent compared to the same period of the previous year.  

Russian exports to the EU countries increased by almost 30 percent while imports are up by 7.4 per cent.  

According to the diplomat the trade volume has already exceeded 2014 figures when Western anti-Russia sanctions were introduced.