OSLO, September 2. /TASS/. The new Danish government may keep up an active political dialogue with Russia, while maintaining a tough stance on the Ukrainian issue, Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen told the Danish news agency Ritzaus on Wednesday.
"We may keep up the necessary dialogue with Russia to address current issues, such as sending a Danish astronaut to outer space," he said. "We continue cooperation with Russia in the Arctic, and we also need to discuss with the Russian side the problems that are important for the Baltic region."
Jensen earlier told the Jyllands-Posten newspaper that it was necessary "to resume active dialogue with Russia" and not to refrain from high-level bilateral meetings. He noted though that Denmark would "continue to assume a critical position" with regard to the situation in Ukraine and the compliance with the Minsk agreements.
On Wednesday, Copenhagen is hosting a meeting of senior diplomats from Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia. According to Jensen, among the issues under discussion are the European security situation, the situation in eastern Ukraine and the sanctions policy towards Russia, which, he said, was effective and should "convince Russia to refrain from confrontation" and interference in the affairs of neighboring countries.
Moscow has repeatedly said that it considers the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the West because of the Ukrainian conflict to be counter-productive. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that "fanning confrontation and attempts of exerting sanctions pressure [on Russia] was a dead-end track."
The Danish minority government was formed by the Liberal Party led by Lars Lokke Rasmussen at the end of June following parliamentary elections.