The EU’s decision to suspend cooperation with Russia over Ukraine is wrong, the head of the Department of crisis management and planning, European external action service (EBU) gábor Iklódy. He told RIA Novosti.
“There are several areas where it was explicitly defined common interests. I believe we should operate. (…) From time to time we have to meet,” said Iklódy.
In his opinion, we should not expect great results from contacts at a high political level, but the dialogue at the lower levels should be continued. Iklódy noted that to cut off all contact over Ukraine “not wise”.
The representative of the EBU added that it is important to have open channels of communication, for example, in the technology sector, including the military. “And contacts, civil society, researchers need to go full speed,” he said.
After the annexation of Crimea to Russia in March 2014, the EU issued a harsh criticism of Moscow, and also introduced some restrictive measures against the Russian Federation. In response, Moscow has imposed a ban on food exports from most countries, which supported anti-Russian sanctions. In addition, in the same year ceased to exist, the format of “Big eight” leaders of leading world powers, instead of to arrive in Sochi, held the G7 summit in Brussels (France, UK, USA, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada).