EU Will Need to Find Ways to Reorganize Relations with Russia - Borrell

• 04.27.2022, 12:00
•  Europe,  World

 The European Union will need to find ways to reorganize relations with Russia in the future, including agreements on security guarantees that will enable peaceful coexistence, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said in its blog on Tuesday, TASS reports.

"Unless we choose to remain in perpetual tension or conflict, and this is certainly not the option preferred by the EU, we will need to find ways to reorganize the relationship between the EU and Russia and agree on security guarantees and mechanisms to allow for peaceful coexistence to take hold again," he said. "This will for sure be a very difficult and lengthy process. The Russian leadership must first understand that its own security cannot and will not be attained at the expense of broader European security and that of its neighbors."

Borrell said the special military operation in Ukraine should have been avoided.

The "US and NATO replied carefully to Russian proposed treaties and letters," he said. "The message was clear on our side: we are ready to discuss all aspects of security, including the Russian references to "indivisibility" of security."

The EU wasn’t involved in the talks on European security that Russia conducted with the US and NATO in January. Moscow sent letters and proposals for a new treaty on European security to all countries of the EU and NATO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 1 said the US and NATO in their responses to Russia’s proposals on security guarantees ignored Moscow’s principled demands.