Sergei Lavrov said the roadmaps adopted at the Russia-EU summit on May 10 marked the new stage of Russia-EU dialogue

Saturday, March 6, 2021

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the roadmaps adopted at the Russia-EU summit on May 10 marked the new stage of Russia-EU dialogue. "The roadmaps are not the end, of course, but the beginning of the new stage of further consolidation of Russia-EU dialogue," reads Lavrov's article published in Rossiiskaya Gazeta. The signing of the roadmaps on the four common spaces (economics; freedom, security, and justice; external security; and research, education, and culture) is the main result of the summit, the minister said. "Thus, the sides achieved their goal which was set two years ago at the Russia-EU summit in St. Petersburg," Lavrov emphasized. According to him, the Russian version of these documents has 64 pages. "They give a detailed covering of all aspects of our relations - from international cooperation to contacts between young people. As a matter of fact, we took inventory of our relations which had already grown out of the framework of the Russia-EU agreement on partnership and cooperation," reads the Foreign Minister's article. In his words, the agreement on partnership and cooperation was drafted in the early 1990s when relations between the new democratic Russia and the European community just started developing. Russia was ready for more progress in certain spheres mentioned in the roadmaps, Sergei Lavrov continued. "Someone can consider the roadmaps little ambitious and specific. Maybe, this is true," he said. "Russia was ready for more progress in the joint fight against terrorism and drug trafficking, in the simplification of people's contacts, cooperation in the agricultural and veterinary spheres and joint reaction to crises and emergency situations," Lavrov stressed. However, the European Union had to coordinate the roadmaps with all its 25 member-states, he said adding that not all countries shared common positions on cooperation with Russia. In his opinion, all aspects of the roadmaps are "a quite demanding agenda" leading our relations with the EU far beyond the scope of the existing agreement on partnership and cooperation

Bookmark Sergei Lavrov said the roadmaps adopted at the Russia-EU summit on May 10 marked the new stage of Russia-EU dialogue