Latvian Prime Minister Suggests Postponing Policy Decisions On Russia Until Fall

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2021) Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins on Thursday suggested that the European Union should refrain from making any decisions on the policy toward Russia, including potential dialogue, until this fall.

This comes after the Financial Times reported, citing diplomatic sources, that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron want the EU to consider holding a summit with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We should postpone any real decisions until the fall so that we can really get our heads around the policy options and to choose the one which is best for all of us," Karins said ahead of the European Council meeting in Brussels, noting the importance of Europe speaking in a strong, single voice.

The prime minister listed the issues that are to be addressed before EU-Russia dialogue can take place, such as the status of the Crimean peninsula and the hostilities in Donbas.

Karins' opinion has been echoed by his Estonian counterpart, Kaja Kallas.

"I, personally, don't think it's the time to have such summits at the leaders' level because what has changed? I mean, what we agreed in 2014, those conditions have not fallen and we have to understand what is the situation right now," Kallas said in a doorstop interview, citing the spring visit of Josep Borrell to Moscow, which she said was "not positive."

Moscow-Brussels relations deteriorated in 2014 over Crimea's reunification with Russia and the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine.