ST. PETERSBURG, June 16, /TASS/. Moscow has always kept in touch with both the West and the East, but now contacts with Europe are absent from Russia’s priorities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a televised interview.

"We have always worked with the West, the East, the North and the South. Since the moment the West severed all contacts we have objectively worked with the East, as before. We are expanding contacts with the East, as always. But in absolute terms these contacts are growing, while in relative terms Europe has disappeared from our priorities, of course," Lavrov said in an interview to the NTV channel on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum organized by the Roscongress Foundation is running from June 15 to 18. This year’s forum is dubbed: ‘New Opportunities in a New World’. The SME Forum, the Creative Business Forum, the Drug Security Forum, the SPIEF Junior Dialogue and SPIEF Sport Week are also going to be part of the SPIEF event. TASS serves as the event’s official photo hosting agency and the information partner.