The EU postpones the review of relations with Russia until the next face-to-face summit

The President of the European Council “reiterated the EU’s call on the Russian authorities to release Mr. Navalny and carry out a transparent investigation into the assassination attempt against him.”

The discussion of the new strategy of the European Union towards Russia has been postponed until the next face-to-face meeting of the heads of state of the union. This was announced by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in his letter on Tuesday 23 March, published on the EU website.

“For Russia, I propose an information item on the agenda and share with you the results of my recent contacts with President Putin, before a more strategic debate on this issue at our next face-to-face meeting of the European Council,” Michel wrote in a letter published Tuesday evening in Brussels.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the EU Leaders Summit, to be held from March 25 to 26, will be held online. US President Joe Biden was invited to the video conference, the President of the European Council said in a letter. The main theme of the summit will be the coronavirus pandemic in Europe.

The day before, Michel had a telephone conversation with Putin, during which the head of the European Council outlined the conditions that would allow, in his opinion, to resolve the existing differences between the parties.

“From the EU’s point of view, relations with Russia can develop in a different direction only if there is constant progress on issues such as the implementation of the Minsk agreements, the end of hybrid and cyber attacks on member states and compliance with human rights, “the press service said in a Council of Europe statement following the conversation between Putin and Michel.

Recall that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the European Union of destroying relations with the Russian Federation.

Earlier, the EU listed the main disagreements with Russia. The European Union recalled Russia’s actions in Donbass and Crimea, human rights violations, hybrid and cyber attacks on EU countries and the case of Alexei Navalny.

In addition, the US Secretary of State and the NATO Secretary General at a meeting in Brussels discussed the situation in Russia, China and Afghanistan.

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