Relations between Russia and the EU deteriorated amid Ukrainian crisis, as European leaders kept on blaming Moscow for its alleged role in Ukrainian internal conflict.
"Relations with the EU — our neighbor and our largest trading partner — objectively will remain one of the priorities of Russian foreign policy in the years ahead," the ministry said in a statement published on its official website.
Over the past few months, the EU, the US and their allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions targeting Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors, as well as a number of high-ranking officials.
Moscow repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the Ukrainian internal conflict, adding that sanctions imposed by the West threaten international peace and stability.
Restoration of Russian-US relations is possible only if Washington is ready to conduct a dialogue with Moscow as an equal partner, respecting each party’s interests, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.
“We drew on the fact that restoration of bilateral relations would be possible if Washington showed its readiness to conduct a dialogue on the principles of true equality, and mutual respect for each party’s interests,” the ministry’s statement said.
Foreign Ministry stated that the United States initially paved the way for escalation of tensions with Russia, stepping up pressure and ratcheting up sanctions against Moscow.
However, the ministry noted that in 2014 the United States and Russia had not scrapped cooperation on key international issues.
“We continued to maintain Russia-US high and highest-level contacts on the situation in Ukraine, Syrian crisis, Iran nuclear settlement, resolution of conflict in the Middle East and North Africa,” the document stated.
