Permanent Representative Chizhov: The EU has isolated itself from the security talks by blocking the dialogue with the Russian Federation
Vladimir Chizhov. Photo: Mission of Russia EU/ Globallookpress.com
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union (EU), Vladimir Chizhov, said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel that the European Union had independently isolated itself from security negotiations by blocking dialogue with Moscow. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.
The diplomat pointed out that Russia will be blamed for this, allegedly it has suspended the European Union from participating in discussions on European security, which is surprising.
“When we sent our proposals to the United States and NATO countries in mid-December, my EU clients were immediately excited by the question “where is our place at the table?”. But then they found the answer themselves: they work through the United States and together with NATO,” Chizhov added.
According to him, Moscow does not see any added value for the EU’s participation in the discussions held in Brussels and Geneva, since their topics are issues of tight security, such as medium- and shorter-range missiles, nuclear weapons, the deployment of troops, while the European Union itself does not position itself as a military bloc.
Chizhov said that Russia can talk about other issues with the EU, but he isolated himself from these negotiations, blocking the development of dialogue on many issues.
Earlier it became known that representatives of the European Union (EU) assured the United States of their commitment to negotiations with Russia in coordination with Washington. The corresponding promises were made by the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrel in a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. During the conversation, the diplomats agreed on the need for a “strong, clear and unified transatlantic front.”
