MOSCOW, February 12. /TASS/. Like those who occupied this position before him, EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrel has no chances for negotiations, and just keeps repeating the same position, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with anchor Vladimir Solovyov on the Solovyov-Live YouTube channel on Friday.
Borrel’s recent visit to Moscow took place amid a climate that was uneasy from the outset, Russia’s top diplomat recalled.
"Many in the EU were against [this visit] and stated publicly that he should not come here," Lavrov pointed out. "Finally, they agreed on the approaches that he should voice."
"I don’t want to make any judgments but it is not the first time that I have noticed this and this concerns not only Borrel but also his predecessor Federica Mogherini. They have no possibilities for negotiations," the Russian foreign minister pointed out.
In this regard, Russia’s diplomatic chief mentioned how the issue of blogger Alexei Navalny had been covered when meeting with Borrel.
"Borrel read out the position on Navalny. I started to put forward counter-arguments because the European Union’s entire position boiled down to the fact that we had turned him into a political prisoner and this was a violation of human rights," Lavrov said.
"This [position] was numerously repeated from various sides. But there are laws in the Russian Federation that must be respected," the Russian diplomatic chief stressed.
"As for human rights, I reminded Borrel that we had expressed our readiness long ago to hold a substantive dialogue on this issue, first of all, on the basis of facts, and secondly, not as a ‘one-way’ process," Lavrov emphasized.