MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. Relations between Russia and European countries will not return to any meaningful level of interaction for another five to six years, Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Vladimir Ilyichev said in an interview with RT during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

The resuscitation of cooperative relations between Russia and Europe under current conditions is impossible, the official said. "I believe cooperation will be revived at some point in any event because nobody has ever managed to cancel geography. We have a longstanding history of relations with European nations and things have not always been placid and straightforward between us. So cooperation will resume, provided that Europe itself is ready to take that step. When might this happen? I think it will come to pass only after a quite lengthy period of time. Our interactions will not reach any kind of meaningful levels for another five to six years at least," the deputy minister surmised.

Moreover, a return to previous levels of relations may not even take place at all since "too many things were ruined," Ilyichev said. "The problem is not even in the disintegration of institutions, methods of payment, and so on," he noted. "It is first and foremost an issue of lost trust. Those core principles that the Europeans spent so long preaching to us were in fact destroyed by their own hand," the official added.

SPIEF - Russia’s showcase business and economic forum - was held this year from June 14 to 17. TASS was the official information partner for the event.