MOSCOW, June 24 (RIA Novosti) – The latest actions of the European Union cast doubt on the strategic nature of its relations with Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
“The 20th anniversary of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement comes at an uneasy stage in relations between Russia and the European Union, whose actions bring about doubt in the strategic character of our partnership,” said the ministerial statement, marking the 20th anniversary since the signing of a basic partnership agreement between Russia and the European Union.
The Foreign Ministry expressed its utmost regret at EU’s refusal to continue work on a new basic agreement with Russia, designed to replace the current document, “in spite of the strategic interests of the peoples of Europe.”
The Foreign Ministry stressed that the Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation is “a beacon” for the relations between Russia and the European Union, “including in the context of resolving the crisis in Ukraine.”
Moscow’s relations with the EU soured as geopolitical tensions in Ukraine boiled over. From then on Europe has already imposed two packages of targeted sanctions against dozens of Russian officials and companies in response to the country’s reunification with Crimea and Moscow’s stand on the current situation in Ukraine. The EU claims to have developed a three-stage sanctions process, whereby the third stage, not yet reached, would imply broad economic sanctions against the entire Russian economy.
According to Russian presidential aide Sergei Glazyev, imposing the full-scale economic sanctions, will cause Europe damage of around one trillion euro, with Germany and Baltic countries suffering the most.
