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Diplomat: Russia ready to boost climate ties with EU, but it won’t ‘knock on locked doors’

Moscow has made several proposals on climate to the European Union, the diplomat stressed

© AP Photo/Virginia Mayo

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Russia has made several proposals on climate to the EU, and it is ready to boost cooperation in this sphere, however, it will not "knock on locked doors," Artem Bulatov, deputy director of the Department of European Cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said during a seminar of the Russian International Affairs Council dedicated to the prospects of cooperation between Russia and the EU in the environmental sphere.

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"It is in the interest of every party to look for points of convergence to consolidate the human and scientific resources of Russia and the EU in the face of serious global challenges, such as the fight against climate change," he said. "We are ready for widest possible cooperation. All our offers are on the table. But we won’t be knocking on locked doors. The ball is in EU’s court."

According to the Russian diplomat, on the one hand, the coronavirus pandemic has clearly shown that disregarding global issues is unacceptable in the modern world, and on the other hand, it "has opened up additional opportunities" that can be used to boost the countries’ economies. In this regard, Bulatov noted that some states are replacing the environmental agenda with an economic one.

"It is absolutely natural that given the current conditions, countries are looking for new sources of economic growth. But it seems that some of our partners cannot resist implementing the climate agenda as a means for benefiting their economy," the diplomat stressed. "Obviously, Russia is closely monitoring the development of the format and the economic contents of the European Green Deal [a package of EU measures aimed to fight climate change - TASS], the so-called EU carbon border adjustment mechanism."

According to Bulatov, Russia has documented the European Union’s plans "to use the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism as an additional source of revenue" for the EU’s budget. "It is estimated that it can bring in up to 15 bln euro annually. And it seems that this is more about the economy than the environment," he added.

The Russian diplomat hoped that "the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism won’t contradict WTO rules and won’t lead to trade protectionism on climate issues." "We would like to avoid implementing response measures. We believe that this is not a time for trade wars even under the current geopolitical conditions," he concluded.

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The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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