“We are seeking ways of developing our relations with Russia, which is our neighbor and will remain one. The EU is linked with the country in energy and trade areas,” Vygaudas Usackas said.
“The neighbor market of more than 142 million residents will always be attractive to Europeans. The role of Russia as a transit country in the 'silk road' trade between China and the EU will continue growing,” the magazine cited Usackas as saying.
Relations between Russia and the European Union deteriorated following the start of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The bloc, as well as a number of other states, accused Moscow of interfering in Ukrainian internal affairs and imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia.
In response, Moscow introduced a year-long ban on food imports from the Western countries that had imposed anti-Russia sanctions.
