BRUSSELS, March 22. /TASS/. President of the European Council Charles Michel had a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and admitted that relations between the European Union and Russia are at a low point, the European Council said in a press statement on Monday.
"The Presidents discussed relations between the EU and Russia," it said. "President Michel expressed the view that EU-Russia ties are at a low point and confirmed the EU's approach of the five guiding principles, based on the EU's core values."
"From the EU perspective, the relationship with Russia can only take a different direction if there is sustained progress on issues like the implementation of the Minsk agreements, stopping hybrid and cyber-attacks on Member States and respect for human rights," it said.
Informing about Putin’s telephone call with the European Council president, the Kremlin press service said earlier in the day that the Russian leader had pointed to the "unsatisfactory situation in the Russian-EU ties because of the non-constructive, and sometimes even confrontational, policy of the partners." Nevertheless, Moscow expressed its readiness to resume normal and non-politicized dialogue with the European Union.
Apart from that, according to the Kremlin, Putin and Michel discussed issues of combating the coronavirus pandemic, the Sputnik V vaccine, the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the situation in Belarus.