BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — The European Union should consider reestablishing a dialogue with Russia in the coming months, while in the short term, efforts must be focused on finding solutions to the Ukrainian crisis, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said.
"I think there is a need to think about a new dialogue with Russia in the medium and the long term. It does not prevent us to achieve a cessation of hostilities in the Ukraine in the short term", Reynders told the radio station La Premiere.
He noted that there are currently two main threats in Europe — one from the South, and the other is the Donbass conflict.
"I know that in Brussels and Paris it is more likely to talk about terrorism coming from the south. But if you go to the Baltic countries, you will see that the first question is Ukraine, the second is also Ukraine, and if you want to discuss something else, you will be offered to discuss Ukraine," the minister said.
Relations between Russia and the West have deteriorated over the situation in Ukraine. The European Union, the United States and their allies introduced the first package of sanctions against Russia in spring 2014, which was subsequently expanded.
Russia responded to Western sanctions with a ban on certain food imports from the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway.
