MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. Trade turnover between Russia and the European Union has been growing for the second year in a row, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.
"For the second year in a row, trade turnover between Russia and the European Union has been growing, last year - by 20%. It approaches the $300 bln mark," the Minister said.
Lavrov recalled that the volume of bilateral trade is still lower than the figures for 2014, when it exceeded $440 bln. "But nevertheless, there is a tendency towards the resumption of growth in commodity turnover," he said.
According to the Russian Foreign Minister, cooperation between the Russian Federation and the EU is progressing in such areas as science and technology, culture, migration and the fight against terrorism.
The relations between Russia and the EU in different areas show that there are no objective reasons for their further degradation, Lavrov stated. "These are all one-time, sporadic contacts, of course, but still, they are positive, confirming that there are no objective reasons for further degradation of relations," the Russian foreign minister stressed. At the same time, he noted that so far, "there are no conditions to return to normal relations between Russia and the EU."
"Unfortunately, not everyone in Europe supports the normalization of Russia-EU relations. The anti-Russian propagandistic campaign goes on: our country is repeatedly made out to be a strategic threat to European security," Lavrov continued.
According to the minister, unilateral restrictions are still being introduced. "Literally a few days ago, the EU succumbed to the pressure of its inner Russophobes, the US and Ukraine. At the same time, we see what is standing behind this: Russia’s demonization in the eyes of the European public aims to create a comfortable screen for solving geopolitical goals," the Russian top diplomat noted.