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Moscow has no relations with EU as organization today, Lavrov says

Russia is open to dialogue with the EU, if Brussels decides to mend relations, according to Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi The Russian Foreign Ministry's press office/TASS
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi
© The Russian Foreign Ministry's press office/TASS

GUILIN /China/, March 23. /TASS/. The entire infrastructure of relations with the European Union has been destroyed by unilateral steps taken by Brussels, so Moscow has no relations with that organization now, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Tuesday at a joint news conference with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

"There are no relations with the European Union as an organization. The entire infrastructure of these relations has been destroyed by unilateral decisions made by Brussels," he said.

"If Europe severed these ties, just destroying all the mechanisms that had been created for many years, and we only have individuals European countries that want to be guided by their national interests, then, probably, objectively, this leads to the fact that our relations with China are developing faster that what is left of relations with European countries," Lavrov stressed.

Russia will be ready for contacts to scale up cooperation with the EU when Brussels deems it necessary to eliminate anomalies in bilateral relations, according to Lavrov.

"If and when Europeans deem fit to eliminate these anomalies in contacts with their largest neighbor, of course, we will be ready to build up these relations based on equality, the search of balance of interests. In the meantime, there are no changes on the Western front, while in the East, in my opinion, we have a very intensive agenda, which is becoming more diverse every year," he noted.