Russia so far sees no signs that Europe could offer reasonable ideas for the negotiations on the issue of Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), TASS reported, BTA reported.
“Europe does not figure in this whole scheme (trilateral negotiations – note TASS) in any way. It does not figure precisely because of its hostile, destructive position towards Russia“, the diplomat said. “We are not closed to dialogue“, he added.
“But if Europe has any constructive and reasonable ideas, then it should express them, it should offer them to us. Then we will see how much these ideas deserve attention. So far, there are no signs that Europe is capable of offering any reasonable ideas,“ Galuzin emphasized.
He recalled that Russia's position “on the topic of negotiations to find ways for a political and diplomatic peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is well known“. “We did not interrupt these negotiations in 2022, when an agreement acceptable to all parties was already close, this was done on the initiative of this same Europe, and specifically as a representative of Europe, a well-known character named Boris Johnson appeared – at that time Prime Minister of Great Britain, or rather simply of Britain, it has long ceased to be great“, said Galuzin.
“We have the Anchorage agreements (with the USA – ed. note) and it is they that can become the basis for settling the conflict“, he also said and added that “Europe is not even mentioned here“.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister also said that Russia does not intend to pay the price associated with the consequences of Armenia's steps towards European integration.
“The question of where Armenia is going and with whom it will build its political future, its state future, is a legitimate question. "Of course, we do not intend to pay the price for Armenia's movement towards the EU at the expense of those indisputable bonuses and preferences that Armenia has from its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union," he said.