Gorbachev Believes Russia, EU Must Pursue Mutual Interests Post-Brexit

Russia and the EU should cooperate with the UK despite the country's decision to leave the bloc, former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia and the European Union should continue to cooperate now that the United Kingdom has decided to leave the bloc, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said.

On June 23, the United Kingdom held a referendum to determine whether or not the country should leave the European Union. According to the final results, 51.9 percent of voters, or 17.4 million people, decided to support Brexit, while about 16.1 million opposed it.

"We should move to seek rapprochement, cooperation between Russia and the EU, and it will be easier to solve problems of this kind, like the one that has just emerged… We should follow the path of establishing [a dialogue], of cooperation and problem-solving, which once began with mutual interests," Gorbachev told RIA Novosti in an interview.

He added that the issue of developing relations should be addressed and considered properly, and all the available mechanisms should be used in this regard.

Official relations between the Soviet Union and the European Union were established in 1989 during Gorbachev's tenure in office.