EU Assures Eastern Partnership Not to Damage Russia's Interests – Lavrov

The EU foreign policy chief has assured Moscow that the union’s cooperation with the Eastern Partnership nations will not damage Russia’s interests, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – When asked to comment on his expectations from the forthcoming Eastern Partnership summit, Russia’s top diplomat said that respect to Russia’s legitimate interests was the only thing that Moscow expected from the European Union.

“During our talks yesterday, Federica Mogherini [assured] that the Eastern Partnership will not develop to the detriment of Russia’s interests.”

The Eastern Partnership is an EU initiative with the stated goal of strengthening relations with its neighbors in Eastern Europe and Southern Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Brussels claims the initiative is aimed purely at deepening EU member states' ties with its neighbors.

The Eastern Partnership summit will bring together EU and former Soviet Republics in the Latvian capital on May 21-22.

In April, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexander Lukashevich said that the forthcoming Riga summit had clear anti-Russian sentiment and warned of a tough response. In response, the European Commission expressed disappointment by Russia’s stance and assured that the event would show what could be achieved by friendly and peaceful cooperation between the partnership countries.