MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. Russia confirms high-level talks with the European Union in Brussels on February 8, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday after a meeting between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov with the EU’s Ambassador to Russia Markus Ederer.
"During the negotiations the sides discussed the issues of holding by Oleg Syromolotov on February 8 in Brussels another round of high-level talks between Russia and the EU on counter-terrorism and also some aspects of current Russian-EU relations," the ministry said.
According to Ederer, 2018 in relations between Moscow and Brussels should be seen from the point of view of realism and cautious optimism. He noted that Russia and the EU had a stable dialogue in 2017, adding that the implementation of the Minsk accords on Ukraine was required to change the paradigm of relations. If that is achieved, there will be more grounds for optimism, he noted.