Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg called Russia part of European reality. He stated that relations between the European Union and the Russian Federation reached the “lower point”, but at the same time Vienna intends to maintain a dialogue with Moscow. His words lead RIA Novosti.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in turn, stated that at the moment the relationship between Russia and the EU is in a deplorable state. The Minister noted that the contacts of the Russian side with Brussels decreased to a minimum due to the policy of EU leaders, which is aimed at restraving Moscow. “We have expressed their readiness to develop a pragmatic dialogue and with the European Union, and with its members exclusively in an equal mutual intention and look for an agreement in those areas that meet mutual interests,” the diplomat added.
August 23 Lavrov appreciated the damage of economic restrictions entered by the EU authorities for Russia. According to him, sanctions – a non-rational policy instrument, and in relation to Moscow they are unpromising.
In May, the Vice-Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev called three conditions for improving relations between Russia and the West. According to Kosachev, countries need to abandon the “concept of order based on the rules” and determine the red lines, followed by interference in internal affairs, and the dialogue mechanisms should also be launched to return “to the principles of Helsinki”, that is, peaceful coexistence, on the first Stage, and “To the Principles of Paris” – indivisibility of security and comprehensive cooperation – on the second.