MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. Russia understands that the development of trade and economic ties with the European Union in the medium term is impossible, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said in an interview with Expert magazine.

"We proceed from reality and recognize that developing trade and economic connections with the EU in the medium term is unlikely," he said. At the same time, Overchuk stressed that "it was not Russia that broke economic ties with Europe, and it was not Russia that began to impose sanctions."

"We could develop relations, but it is obvious that the Europeans are inclined towards something else. So far there are very few people there (in the EU - TASS) who are able to objectively assess what is happening and be unbiased in relation to our country," he added.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, Russia managed to "quickly redirect trade flows to the southeast." "This reversal generally started even before the events of February 2022, since even earlier the economic center of the world had moved to where we redirected our trade relations. The reduction in the EU share in our foreign trade has been noted since 2019, and the events of 2022 have only accelerated this process," he continued.

Overchuk also clarified that from 2019 to October 2023, the EU’s share in Russian trade turnover decreased from 43.6% to 17.6%, and in physical terms, the share of European countries in the structure of Russian trade turnover decreased from 33.9% in 2021 to 11.6% for the nine months of 2023. "At the same time, in monetary terms, trade with the rest of the world, except Europe and other Western countries, in 2021 amounted to 47%, and in the nine months of last year increased to 75.2%. In physical terms, this figure changed from 53.1% in 2021 to 80.9% in nine months of 2023," the Deputy Prime Minister stated.