MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. A profound crisis in relations between Russia and the European Union is in the interests of neither of the sides, a Russian lawmaker said on Friday.
"Relations between Russia and the European Union, between the Federal Assembly (Russia’s parliament) and the European Parliament are now far from being ideal, to put it mildly, but calling things by their proper names, they are in a profound crisis," Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the international committee of Russia’s Federation Council upper parliament house, said at a meeting with the head of the European Union’s delegation in Russia, Vygaudas Usackas.
Kosachev said he was confident such state of things was in the interests of neither Russia nor the European Union. He noted that neither the European Union’s tough stance over the situation in Ukraine, nor Russia’s positions and subsequent sanctions had "helped Ukraine to overcome the crisis" and had not forced Russia to change its approaches.