Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has told the country’s parliament that Moscow and the European Union need to resume cooperation.
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He also expressed disappointment that Russia had been demonised by the US and western powers.
“The current negative trend in global affairs is not our choice. There is no real alternative to a mutually-beneficial and equal cooperation between Russia and the European Union, too much binds us together. The downgrading of the level of the cooperation between Russia and its western partners without doubt has multilevel consequences which are not just limited to the economic field,” Lavrov said.
On Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Moscow said there was not much reason for optimism in the stand-off between Russia and Ukraine, and that the September ceasefire signed in the Belarusian capital Minsk still needed to be implemented.
Lavrov has urged Kyiv to hold talks with rebel leaders in Donetsk and Luhansk in order to find a path to peace.