Asked by RIA Novosti if Moscow was ready for a Russia-EU "reset," Andrei Kelin replied, "The traditional answer to this is: we will be ready to the same extent as our partners."
"The crisis in our relationship with the European Union will end sooner or later – it cannot last forever," he said, adding this relationship needed to be "reinvented."
The Russian diplomat pointed to nuclear energy, ecology, motor transportation, phytosanitary measures, tariff barriers to trade and technical regulations as priority spheres where cooperation needs to be intensified in order to normalize Russia-EU relations.
Speaking on the possibility of a top-level dialogue, Kelin said it was necessary for Moscow and Brussels to be on the same page when dealing with common problems.
"To achieve mutual understanding, we need to sit down at the negotiating table, explain our concerns, listen to arguments and look for a common solution," he stressed.
Russia’s relations with the 28-nation bloc soured in 2014 over the Ukrainian crisis. The European Union acted in concert with the United States to impose a series of economic sanctions on Russia’s energy, banking and defense sectors, citing its alleged involvement in Ukraine's internal affairs. Moscow has denied the allegations.
