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Joint Russia-EU projects frozen due to Brussels, diplomat points out

There were many political, humanitarian and economic projects in which Russia and the EU participated, said Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/TASS

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova

© Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/TASS

MOSCOW, May 22./TASS/. Joint projects of Russia and the European Union were blocked because of anti-Russian sanctions and aggressive rhetoric from Brussels, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova blogged on Facebook on Saturday in comments on allegations from the Austrian foreign minister that Moscow showed no interest in dialogue with the EU.

"This is not true. There were many political, humanitarian and economic projects in which Russia and the EU participated. But they were blocked after Brussels had adopted anti-Russian sanctions and replaced dialogue with aggressive rhetoric, baseless accusations and disinformation campaigns," Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page.

Earlier on Saturday Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg alleged ahead of the May 24 EU summit that the European Union wanted to build a dialogue with Russia, but Moscow was not interested in it.

He also said that the European Union and Russia should cooperate on many tracks, from climate to the energy sector, expressing hope for a change in the mood of EU-Russia relations.

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