MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th May, 2021) Russia has reaffirmed its commitment to normalizing relations with the European Union on the understanding that the interaction will be based on equality and mutual respect, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday following a meeting with his Slovenian counterpart, Anze Logar.
Logar is currently on a three-day visit to Russia. The trip comes ahead of Sloveni's assumption of the presidency in the Council of the European Union starting on June 1.
"We have once again reiterated our willingness to normalize relations with the European Union on the understanding that we will conduct affairs on the basis of equality and mutual respect, seeking a balance of interests, and not on the basis of unilateral actions and preconditions," Lavrov said at a joint press conference.
The minister also reiterated Moscow's concerns about Brussel's actions aimed at undermining all the mechanisms for cooperation that existed between the EU and Russia, saying that the EU position is formed based on "the lowest common denominator, which is determined by the approaches of an aggressive Russophobe minority."
The relations between the EU and Russia have long been strained. They took a further downward turn last month in the wake of a Moscow-Prague diplomatic row over Russia's alleged role in the 2014 ammunition depot blasts in a Czech town of Vrbetice.
Another event that contributed to the deterioration was Russia's inclusion of EU member states in the list of the so-called unfriendly countries earlier in May.
