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Russia, EU to discuss ways to restore cooperation

Xinhua, April 21, 2017 Adjust font size:

Russia hopes to have a substantive discussion of ways to restore its cooperation with the European Union (EU) during EU foreign policy chief's visit to Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday.

EU's High Representative for Foreign affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice Presdent Federica Mogherini is scheduled to visit Moscow on Monday.

"We are ready for a full-fledged resumption and active support of channels for cooperation with the EU in various fields," the ministry's Information and Press Department said in a commentary ahead of Mogherini's visit.

Currently, EU remains Russia's key trade and economic partner, accounting for almost 45 percent of the country's foreign trade, according to the commentary.

Noting that Russia-EU relations are going through a difficult period, the ministry said cooperation still continues in a number of areas, such as regular bilateral talks on countering terrorism and organized crime, as well as regional cooperation.

"We are ready to build mutually beneficial relations with the EU and its member countries on the basis of equality, respect for national interests and objective interdependence of economies, conditioned by territorial closeness and complementarity," the ministry said.

During the upcoming talks, Mogherini and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will examine key aspects of bilateral relations, the commentary said.

They will also talk about international issues, including the situation in Ukraine, the Western Balkans, Syria, Iraq, Libya, the Iranian nuclear program and the Middle East settlement, it added. Endit