Josep Borell paid a “complicated visit to Moscow’ to test, through principled diplomacy, whether the Russian government was interested in addressing differences and reversing the negative trend in EU-Russia relations.
This statement was made by Josep Borrel, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy in his official blog on the EU website.
The purpose of the mission was to express directly the EU’s strong condemnation of current events and to address the process of a rapid worsening of our relationship with Russia, and to help prepare the forthcoming European Council discussions on EU-Russia relations.
“An aggressively-staged press conference and the expulsion of three EU diplomats during my visit indicate that the Russian authorities did not want to seize this opportunity to have a more constructive dialogue with the EU. While not fully unexpected, this is regrettable, also, dare I say, from a Russian strategic perspective. As EU, we will have to draw the consequences, reflect carefully on the direction we want to give to our relations with Russia and proceed in a united manner with determination,” the EU high representative said.
According to the politician, human rights issues and fundamental freedoms were very much at the centre of the visit. Therefore, a particular case of Alexei Navalny arrest was addressed. Russia was reminded of its international obligations. However, Lavrov was not open to such a dialogue.
“At times, the discussion with my Russian counterpart reached high levels of tension, as I called for Mr Navalny’s immediate and unconditional release, as well as for a full and impartial investigation into his assassination attempt.”
The politicians have also discussed conflicts in the immediate neighbourhood. Borell insisted on the need to advance towards the full implementation of the Minsk agreement and on respect for Ukraine’s territorial integrity. EU foreign policy chief argued as well the need to heed the call of the people of Belarus - which has been loud and clear for six months now - to freely choose their President, respect for the territorial integrity of Georgia, the situation in Nagorno Karabakh, and the Syrian and Libyan crises.
“I had planned this trip to convey EU positions and to stress our fundamental concerns, but also to test if, in some areas where our interests converge, we can try to cooperate, and start building some trust. My meeting with Minister Lavrov and the messages sent by Russian authorities during this visit confirmed that Europe and Russia are drifting apart. It seems that Russia is progressively disconnecting itself from Europe and looking at democratic values as an existential threat,” Borell summed up.
According to the politician, the meeting of EU member-states representatives well is held on February 22 in order to discuss further strategic choices within EU-Russia relations, which may include the imposition of another package of sanctions.
“We will discuss these issues with my fellow EU foreign ministers. As ever, it will be for member states to decide the next steps, and yes, these could include sanctions. And we also have another tool in this respect, thanks to the recently approved EU human’s rights sanctions regime."