Russia criticized the European Union's top foreign policy chief over comments lacking "any logical thinking" for targeting Türkiye over its relations with Moscow.
In response to a question by Anadolu Agency (AA) about Josep Borrell's comments, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova criticized the top diplomat for demeaning his position and spreading "lies and stupid things."
"He is reading notes provided to him, he does not have any logical thinking and this thinking has deeper roots, like colonialism and fascism," said Zakharova.
Asserting that Borrell and other Western officials "ignore the national interests" of Türkiye and other countries, Zakharova said Ankara could "be a member of NATO if it serves West's interests, but it cannot be part of the EU and is banned from the Schengen Area."
Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also took aim at Borrell over the "ugly" remarks, saying: "I do not take Borrell as my interlocutor. He can only be Mr. (Turkish Foreign Minister) Mevlüt's (Çavuşoğlu) interlocutor."
"In other words, Borrell cannot appoint or regulate our relations with Russia. He has neither the quality nor the capacity to make such a decision on these matters. It was a very ugly comment," Erdoğan told reporters aboard the presidential plane returning from his Turkmenistan trip.
On Thursday, EU states agreed on the ninth round of sanctions against Russia, a few days after Borrell announced that there was "no 100% agreement" between the foreign ministers of member countries, without detailing the points of disagreement between them.
The new set of sanctions includes restrictions on mining investments in Russia, as well as the banning of exports of dual-use goods to the country.
