MOSCOW, November 22 (Sputnik) — Russia has no plans to cancel cooperation with the European Union, but former relations cannot be restored, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday.
“The European Union is our major collective partner. Noone wants to shoot their own leg and to cancel cooperation with Europe, but everyone understands that business as usual is not possible,” Lavrov said at the assembly of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.
Lavrov added that despite geopolitical tensions, Russia continues a dialogue with the majority of countries.
“The vast majority of countries, we continue a dialogue with them… there is no isolation,” he said.
Relations between Russia and the European Union deteriorated amid Ukrainian crisis, as European leaders kept blaming Moscow for its alleged involvement in Ukrainian internal conflict – a claim that Kremlin denied.
Over the past few months, the European Union, the United States and their allies have implemented several rounds of sanctions targeting Russia's banking, energy and defense sectors, as well as a number of high-ranking officials in retaliation to what they called Russia's aggressive policy in Ukraine.
Moscow repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the Ukrainian internal conflict, adding that sanctions threaten international peace and stability and run counter to the principles of international law.
