Foreign ministers of Britain and Sweden released a statement of reviving partnership negotiations of Russia and the European Union
Russian business newspaper Kommersant reported Monday that the ministers of Britain and Sweden backed up the restart of talks with Russia, as it was in the interests of the 27-state bloc.
“We are not turning the page on the conflict with Georgia,” Reuters quoted the statement of Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
Foreign ministers of other EU states also discussed potential re-launch of the talks on the partnership pact yesterday.
At November 6 joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev expressed the desire for long, durable and close relations with the European Union.
Medvedev cited Russia’s-Italian ties as an example, specifying that they were friendly, mutually beneficial relations of partners.
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso also advocated restart of the talks with Russia.
The negotiated EU-Russia pact covers political, trade and economic relations of both parties.
Author:
Ksenia Kochneva