All news

London to maintain creative approach to sanctions on Moscow, says Russian envoy

Vladimir Chizhov said that when London pulled out of the EU, Russia and many other countries would have to reaffirm all their agreements with the European Union
Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov Sergei Bobylev/TASS
Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov
© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

ST. PETERSBURG, June 7. /TASS/. British authorities will maintain "a creative approach" to the development of new sanctions on Moscow after Brexit, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"As for our relations with Great Britain, which have been overshadowed by the British government’s unfriendly policy in the past several years, we will need to reach new agreements with them," he said, commenting on possible developments after the United Kingdom’s pullout from the European Union. "When I called on my British colleagues to try to approach the situation with a positive attitude, saying that after Brexit Great Britain wouldn’t have to keep the EU sanctions on Russia in place, they assured me that the UK will maintain a creative approach to the development of new sanctions," Chizhov pointed out.

In addition, the Russian envoy said that when London pulled out of the EU, Russia and many other countries would have to reaffirm all their agreements with the European Union. According to Chizhov, he has held conversations with officials from Australia, New Zealand and India. "First, they have advanced relations with the EU, and second, they have close ties with Great Britain. It is them that will face the toughest challenges," he said.

"As far as we are concerned, we will raise protocol issues: after the signing of the Russia-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which will turn 25 on June 24, the European Union expanded several times and new protocols were signed in relation to new EU members," Chizhov said. "It was serious work and these protocols are as legally binding as the agreement itself, they also were ratified," the Russian envoy emphasized, adding that making a new document was "not a political issue but a technical and legal one."

"As for trade between Russia and the European Union, there are the EU’s metal, grain and meat quotas, which will have to be recalculated as the number of EU countries will decrease from 28 to 27 after Great Britain’s withdrawal," Chizhov concluded.