Fired up European official slams 'Ridiculous' Russian sanctions, urges different approach

The new European sanctions will seek to embargo Russian energy imports across the continent in an effort to stop funding Putin's war.

EU Parliament's Guy Verhofstadt   speaks during the opening of the Conference on the Future of Europe, in Brussels, Belgium April 19, 2021.  (Francois Walschaerts/Pool via REUTERS) Katerina Tikhonova, deputy director of the Institute for Mathematical Research of Complex Systems at Moscow State University, daughter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is seen on screens as she takes part in a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia June 4, 2021.  (Reuters/Evgenia Novozhenina) China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Brazil's Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo are pictured during a BRICS foreign ministers meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 26, 2019. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes ( )

"That works with a democracy, with democrats, who have a public opinion, a real public opinion," Verhofstadt said. "In Russia, there is no longer a real public opinion."