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Kremlin says Russia interested in reviving relations with EU considering mutual interests

Russia wasn’t the initiator of curtailing these relations, the Kremlin spokesman said

MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. Russia is interested in reviving relations with the EU considering interests of both sides and without applying double standards, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists commenting on the statement of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell that the results of his trip to Russia demonstrate that Moscow is not interested in improving relations with the EU.

"Russia was and is interested in reviving relations between Moscow and Brussels. We weren’t the initiators of curtailing these relations. We proceed from the necessity of considering each other’s interests, we are adamantly opposed to meddling in each other’s interests and applying double standards," the Kremlin representative said.

The spokesman added that in this respect Moscow intends "to act very decisively and here nobody should have any doubts."

"Yet this doesn’t mean that we somehow want to grow distant or make worse the already scarce relations between Moscow and Brussels. Quite the opposite, we are interested in developing them," he concluded.

On February 7, Borrell in his blog expressed an opinion that the results of his trip to Russia indicate Moscow’s disinterest in improving relations with the EU. He also reported that the European Union may introduce new sanctions against Russia due to situation around blogger Alexey Navalny, engaging a new mechanism that stipulates restrictions for violation of human rights.

Borrell visited Russia from February 4 through 6. On February 5, he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Then Borrell noted that the EU and Russia conducted an open and honest dialogue on all issues of bilateral relations, including the fight against the pandemic, the global climate change, the revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program, disagreements over Ukraine, Brussels’ support for blogger Alexey Navalny and deportation from Russia of Western diplomats who participated in unauthorized protest rallies.