Russia and the EU may be at a low point in their relationship, but the natural interests of both sides require improving them regardless of existing differences, Russia’s top envoy to the union told RT.
“I believe we have no other option, both Russia and the European Union, than to try to bring those relations back to normality,” Vladimir Chizhov, Moscow’s permanent representative to the EU, said.
The Russian diplomat was commenting on the latest slate of anti-Russian sanctions which the EU imposed in an apparently coordinated move with Washington. The restrictions are meant to be the West’s response to last year’s alleged poisoning and recent prosecution of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, who was sentenced to a jail term for breaking the terms of his probation.
The EU formulates its foreign policy on consensus basis, so it’s no wonder that the outcome is a “least common denominator” influenced by the opinions of those members that are more hostile toward Moscow, Chizhov said. This is acknowledged privately by individual member states that are on the same page as Russia on the issue and seek fixing the current rift.
This is apparent not only in punitive measures but also in the attitude toward the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Germany considers vital to its economic interests and which Poland has labeled a threat to European energy security, following in the footsteps of Washington.
The project was preceded by Nord Stream, which the EU treated as a project of common interests, unlike the second pipeline. The change makes little sense, Chizov said, since “they both serve the same goal of providing energy security to the countries of the European Union.”
European countries and Russia share much more than just geography, both in terms of people-to-people ties and geopolitical interests, so both sides will benefit from better relations, the Russian diplomat predicted.
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
Russia and the EU may be at a low point in their relationship, but the natural interests of both sides require improving them regardless of existing differences, Russia’s top envoy to the union told RT. Read Full Article at RT.com Read More
Far more radiation was released across the world after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster than the Japanese government has claimed, new global data conclude. The study on the post-earthquake disaster combines radioactivity data from around the world to estimate the scale and fate of emissions from the plant, that has reached across the world. (Read […]
Indian media revealed in mid-January that their country had been processing and re-exporting discounted Russian oil to the West, including the US, in a move that discredited the spirit of that de facto New Cold War bloc’s anti-Russian sanctions. Most observers brushed off those reports since they went against their worldview wherein it was taken for granted that the […]
Donald Trump’s presidency has been marked by a dramatic intensification of U.S. support for Israel that would make previous presidential administrations blush. This shift is so marked and forceful that it can be understood through the lens of Judeo-Accelerationism. Originating from accelerationist theory, which holds that intensifying a prevailing system’s logic can bring about transformative change, Judeo-Accelerationism […]
