Josep Borrell says Russia 'does not want' constructive dialogue with Europe

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on February 8 said that Russia is rejecting constructive dialogue with bloc and that Europe must draw consequences. In a statement on Twitter, Borrell said that his visit to Moscow highlighted that Russia does t want to seize opportunity to have more constructive dialogue. He furr called it “regrettable” and ded that EU and Russia were “drifting apart” after a complicated visit which saw expulsion of three EU diplomats over allegations from Moscow that y h attended protests. 

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Furr, in a blog post, top EU diplomat also said that relations between Europe and Russia h been low for a number of years and h deteriorated even furr since Navalny was poisoned in an attack opposition leer has blamed on Russian state. He ded that it seems that Russia is “progressively disconnecting” itself from Europe and looking at democratic values as an existential threat. He went on to defend his visit arguing that criticising Russia from a distance will t bring greater security to European Union. 

“At times, discussion with my Russian counterpart reached high levels of tension, as I called for Mr. Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release, as well as for a full and impartial investigation into his assassination attempt,” he said

“We have to face challenges, including meeting ors in ir home turf, just when negative events are unfolding. If we want a safer world for tomorrow, we have to act decidedly today and be rey to take some risks,” Borrell ded. 

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Borrell to debrief EU members on Feb 22 

Borrell will debrief his trip to foreign ministers from EU member states on February 22 and EU leers will discuss ir strained ties with Moscow at a summit in March. decision to impose sanctions must be decided unanimously after a proposal from member states.

Meanwhile, it is worth ting that while both European Union and Russian Federation share several contracts on tre, politics, personal data protection and implementation of JCPOA, ir ties have been severed since 2014. Primary causes include Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, support for rebel groups in eastern Ukraine, policies in neighbourhood, disinformation campaigns and negative internal developments. Putin ministration’s intervention in Syria, Libya and sub-Saharan Africa have also irked bloc promoting it renew several sanctions against Moscow.

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