Moscow – Russia needs to restore relations with the European Union (EU) and believes many governments want the same, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.
“There are already quite a few governments that understand the abnormal and unhealthy nature of the current situation,’’ Lavrov said at a news conference after talks with his Italian counterpart Enzo Moavero Milanesi.
According to Lavrov, these governments are not being guided by ideological considerations, not by Euro-Atlantic solidarity, but by the fundamental, deep-rooted interests of European countries.
He said that one such government is the new Italian administration of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte which took office on June 1, a position Russia highly appreciates.
The EU imposed a range of economic sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea, formerly part of Ukraine in 2014 and its alleged role in the conflict in the south of the country.
“Moscow hopes that finally, the interest of the European people will prevail in particular because European businesses have suffered losses as a result of the sanctions.
“We don’t want to tolerate this situation any longer.
This is confirmed by the upward trend in trade turnover between Russia and the EU over the past two years,’’ Lavrov said.
Milanesi agreed that the EU and Russian needed to restore their relations.
“We are interested in finding a way out of this situation.
“This is our aim, but we understand that this is not a simple process,’’ he said at the news conference, speaking through an interpreter.
Milanesi said that Italy was interested in playing active role in restoring Russia-EU ties.
Also, both see eye-to-eye on a number of global issues, including the need to fight terrorism and drug trafficking as well as in energy. (Xinhua/NAN)