BRUSSELS, January 19. /TASS/. The Moscow visit of Deputy Secretary General and Political Director of the European External Action Service Enrique Mora confirms that both Russia and the European Union are interested in maintaining political dialogue, Russian Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said.

When asked if Mora’s visit had anything to do with security consultations between Russia and Western countries, he said that "Enrique Mora’s visit to Moscow was planned a while ago." "It is about the next round of consultations between political directors from the Russian Foreign Ministry and the European Union," Chizhov added. "The event proves that Russia and the EU remain interested in maintaining political dialogue, no more, no less," the Russian envoy noted.

Mora wrote earlier on Twitter that he had discussed European security architecture, the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for Iran’s nuclear program and talks on Venezuela with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. The EU diplomat emphasized that "principles reiterated by EU foreign ministers last Friday in Brest are at the core of the EU position" in terms of talks on European security.

On December 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry released a draft agreement on security guarantees between Russia and the United States and a draft agreement on ensuring the security of Russia and NATO member states. Consultations on the issue took place in Geneva on January 10, followed by a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on January 12 and a session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Permanent Council in Vienna on January 13.