Luxembourg FM Says Russia's Medvedev 'Offered Hand' to West in Munich

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev "offered a hand" to Western countries in his speech at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said Monday.

BERLIN (Sputnik) — On Saturday, in a speech at the MSC, Medvedev urged the international community to move from confrontation to cooperation in order to avoid a new Cold War or a "third global turmoil."

"I heard Medvedev in Munich, I was there. And I can interpret him as an optimist. I have heard the end of his speech and it included, against all the odds, a point, when he offered a hand," Asselborn told reporters.

Asselborn expressed hope that Russia would keep this position both within the framework of the UN Security Council and different humanitarian organizations.

Relations between Russia and the West deteriorated after Crimea became a part of Russia and because of Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis. Brussels, as well as Washington and some of their allies, imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow's energy, banking and defense sectors.

Russia has denied the allegations and, in August 2014, in response to the Western restrictive measures, Moscow announced a one-year food embargo on products originating in states that imposed sanctions against it. The ban has since been extended.