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Granting EU candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova does not pose risks for Russia — Lavrov

The European Union is not a political bloc, unlike NATO, the Russian Foreign Minister recalled

© Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/TASS

BAKU, June 24. /TASS/. Russia sees no risks for itself in the fact that Ukraine and Moldova have been granted EU candidate status, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on Friday in Baku.

"Our position has always been that the European Union is not a political bloc, unlike NATO. The development of its relations with any countries that wish to do so does not create any threats and risks for us," Lavrov said in reply to a corresponding question.

"Of course, we will realistically consider the European Union’s behavior and monitor the real steps it takes and how the candidate countries act: whether they comply with these requirements or still try to show their independence," the minister added.

On Thursday, the heads of state of the EU member states at a summit in Brussels approved granting Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidates to join the bloc.

Tags

Ukraine Sergey Lavrov Russian Foreign Ministry EU Moldova

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