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No diplomatic break with EU, Russia ready for further contacts — top diplomat

According to Sergey Lavrov, among other things, everything depends on the extent EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell will be allowed to resume dialogue with Russia

MOSCOW, January 14. /TASS/. Moscow has not severed ties with the EU and is ready to further negotiate with EU's chief diplomat Josep Borrell depending on the productivity of the issues that will be addressed by Western colleagues, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Friday.

"[Russia and the EU] did not severe their [diplomatic] relations, and you know, we spoke with Josep Borrell last year and are ready for some additional contacts," the Russian top diplomat noted. "Everything depends on the extent [Borrell] will be allowed to resume dialogue with Russia and on the constructiveness of the issues that will be raised," Lavrov stated.

"We spoke with [Borrell] on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council held Stockholm on December 2, we did not meet on purpose, just on the go, but confirmed that we were not avoiding each other. But I remind you that the ball is on the EU’s court," the top diplomat noted.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov EU

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