BRUSSELS, September 12. /TASS/. Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov has confirmed his departure from Brussels in the near future after finishing his 17-year mission.

"I am leaving soon. The term of my assignment has come to a close. I feel embarrassed to be a living monument to the strategic partnership between Russia and the European Union," he told journalists on Monday.

He refused to say who will succeed him. "I can only say that during my farewell visits, I warned Europeans that it is much easier to burn boats than to build them," he said.

"The European Union is stubbornly and deliberately refusing from an independent role its has been proclaiming for long time when speaking about its strategic autonomy. Everybody has forgotten about it," Chizhov said, adding that as a matter of fact the European Union is turning into "NATO’s economic appendage."

In his words, there will be no returning to former relations with the European Union.