PORVOO (Finland), (Sputnik) — The current state of relations between Russia and the European Union is not satisfactory at the moment, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday.
"We have discussed the state of relations between Russia and the European Union and it, of course, is far from satisfactory. We recalled the proposals for overcoming the current deadlock in the relations, which had been submitted by President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker last June," Lavrov said after talks with Finnish Foreign Minister Timo Soini.
The relations between Russia and the European Union shattered after Crimea rejoined Russia as a result of a referendum in 2014, which had not been recognized by the bloc's member states. The European Union, as well as the United States and their allies, introduced a number of sanctions against Russia. Moscow, in turn, put in place a food embargo on products originating in the countries which had targeted Russia with sanctions.
