MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) – Russian lawmakers are not planning to leave international institutions due to recent sanctions, which are temporary, according to the speaker of the upper house of Russian parliament, the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko.
“Russia is a superpower that plays a huge role in the world. We are not going for self-isolation and nobody can isolate Russia. … We continue to work with all international institutions, where we promote our stance, our arguments. And are not going to leave these institutions, because it is a good opportunity to get out our truth, our position, and back it with arguments,” Matvienko said Tuesday during a press conference in Moscow.
The official added there are currently some limitations in cooperation with EU countries, but the partners are showing interest in establishing a dialogue with Russia.
“This is a temporary situation that is due to tensions around the events in Ukraine. It will pass. I myself, for example, have already received an invitation to a meeting of the association of the speakers of European parliaments that will be held next year,” Matvienko noted.
The speaker underlined that the recent strengthening of ties between Russia and Eastern countries does not mean opposition to Western partners.
“As to the East and countries of the Asian and Pacific Rim – it is not a counterbalance to our other contacts, it is one of the priorities of our foreign policy to strengthen ties with the countries in this region, including inter-parliamentary cooperation,” Matvienko explained.
The West imposed sanctions against a number of Russian officials and companies in response to country’s reunification with the former Ukrainian region of Crimea and Moscow’s stand on the Ukrainian crisis. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called the sanctions counterproductive and warned of the negative effect they will have on the economies of Western countries.
