All news

Russian diplomat: EU must not interfere in Ukraine’s internal affairs

ATHENS, December 13, 2:52 /ITAR-TASS/. The European Union must not interfere in internal affairs of Ukraine, but should give the Ukrainian people an opportunity to make their own choice, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov told Russian reporters after talks with the leadership of the Greek Foreign Ministry.

He said talks had proceeded in a very constructive manner. “A meeting with (Greece’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister) Evangelos Venizelos was very positive,” he said. “Venizelos once again confirmed the readiness of Greece which holds the presidency of the EU to actively work with Russia on shaping a positive agenda in a dialogue between Russia and the EU,” he added.

The diplomat said a meeting within the “EU foreign ministers and (Russian Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov” format would be held in Brussels on Monday. “This is a very important meeting, including in the search for a truly positive strategic agenda in our dialogue,” Meshkov said, adding that Greece had demonstrated major interest in that.

Of course the Eastern Partnership issue was also on the agenda of the talks. Meshkov said he had once again emphasized the importance of non-interference in internal affairs of Ukraine and a need to give Ukrainians an opportunity to make their own choice.

It is clear that the main challenge for European security at the moment comes from the south, the deputy minister said. “And this instability not only in the Middle East, but also in the north of Africa is a matter of major concern for Greece as well as for us, as it is there that centers of most aggressive Islam, Islamic terrorism are being formed at the moment, which not only has a disastrous influence on the domestic political situation in these countries, but also has a negative influence European and even global security,” he said.