MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. The trade turnover between Russia and the European Union (EU) increased 25% in eight months of this year, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with members of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) on Tuesday.

"Explicit attempts to use unilateral sanctions as a means of unfair competition violating the World Trade Organization’s regulation, numerous UN General Assembly resolutions, which condemn unilateral, illegitimate coercive measures, negatively affect the global trade," he said.

According to Lavrov, the relations between Russia and the European Union are developing unevenly amid this background. "On the one hand, there is progress in certain fields as the bilateral trade turnover increased 25% in eight months of 2017 after a two-fold drop over the past three years," the minister said, adding that he considers it "a solid result, even despite the fact that it refers to a very low base."