Czech President Says Dialogue With Russia Necessary Despite Disagreements

"We do not have to agree with Russia, but we have to speak to each other. The silliest thing we can do is to ignore one another. When people do not talk, then there’s no communication between them, relationships are not developing. I’m sorry for those people who enjoy finding enemies," the president told the Ceska televize broadcaster on Sunday.

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Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis shared the president's stance on the necessity to maintain communication with Russia.

"I do not perceive Russia as a threat. It is necessary to have an active dialogue with Russia, in particular, on the situation in Syria. I think that Europe was not proactive enough in the development of events in this country, missed the momentum. We are very interested in the stabilization of situation in Syria, so that its citizens could return home, which would have a significant effect on the migration problem in Europe," the prime minister said.

Relations between Russia and Europe deteriorated over the past several years amid the Ukrainian crisis. The situation escalated further in March when London, backed by its European and overseas partners, accused Moscow of orchestrating the nerve agent attack on double agent Sergei Skripal. Moscow denied the allegations, but the incident caused a large diplomatic crisis and further soured Russia-Europe relations.