ECB's Panetta says EU a victim of US efforts to distance Russia from China

MILAN (Reuters) -The United States' "confrontational" trade stance towards Europe is a consequence of U.S. efforts to give Russia a seat in international forums and weaken its ties with China, a top European Central Bank policymaker said on Wednesday.

ECB Governing Council member Fabio Panetta told a student conference in Milan he believed the European Union was paying the price for taking a firm stance against Russia in light of the war in Ukraine. 

In attempts to limit China's international influence, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is ready to sacrifice its historic ties with Europe, he said.

Western sanctions against Russia have strengthened Moscow's ties with China in recent years. On Wednesday, Russia's deputy economy minister urged Brazil to complement China in filling the gaps in Russian markets left by the exodus of Western companies.

Panetta told the Young Factor conference in Milan that the United States saw Russia's alliance with China as too big of a threat.

"It would be extremely difficult to compete with China's industrial, technological, and financial power if that is combined with Russia's natural resources," Panetta said.

"So I believe President Trump's goal is to give Russia back its international legitimacy, so to speak ... If that's the plan, then the economic area that most opposed Russia's invasion of Ukraine, i.e., the European Union, is your worst enemy," he said.

Trump told the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday that the G8 had been wrong to kick out Russia in 2014 after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

Trump also said that while trade talks with the EU continued, he did not feel the EU was offering "a fair deal" yet and may have to "just pay whatever we say they have to pay."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters at the summit that the objective was still to reach a deal before higher tariffs kick in on July 9 after a 90-day pause.

Panetta said the difference between the average duty the EU applied to U.S. goods and the average U.S. duty on goods from the economic bloc was small, and the issue would have been easily solvable.

"But if the EU is the obstacle as Washington seeks to distance Russia and China, that can explain the aggressive attitude towards a commercial partner," he said.

(Reporting by Valentina ZaEditing by Rod Nickel)