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Communication breakdown between Russia and EU deters fight against real threats — MP

"A classic crisis in communication between Russia and western countries is forming today: a wrong diagnosis begets incorrect treatment, resulting in aggravating problems," a lawmaker stresses
Chairman of the Russian Federation Council's Committee for International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev Valery Sharifulin/TASS
Chairman of the Russian Federation Council's Committee for International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. The breakdown in communication between Russia and western countries aggravates existing problems and hinders the fight against real world threats, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council (upper house), Konstantin Kosachev, stated during a joint meeting with members of the French Senate’s Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee.

"A classic crisis in communication between Russia and western countries is forming today: a wrong diagnosis begets incorrect treatment, resulting in aggravating problems," he noted, adding that the situation in Europe and in the world demands quick decisions. "Time does not stand still, we are spurred on by external circumstances. Today, Europe faces probably the most serious crisis since the Cold War, and this is not just a political and media crisis, it has spiraled into a military build-up near both borders," Kosachev pointed out. "Regardless of whether we want this or not, a solution must be found immediately, this is our obligation to our constituencies," the MP explained.

Moreover, he added that relationships between Russia and France even under the strained circumstances have "kept a constructive nature." The senator is confident that contacts between the two nations "should not be held hostage to electoral cycles." What’s more, the national interests of Russia, France and Europe in general fuel the search for dialogue in order to combat actual threats from international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction to illegal immigration and other pressing issues.

The MP emphasized that the Russian and French senators "brutally honest" in assessing the situation in the reports about the two countries’ relationships, and intend "to discuss the situation in Syria and Ukraine, and the development of civil society in Russia and France".