Question: Good afternoon, Mr. Ambassador. Are Russian and European Union representatives stepping up their communication?
Vladimir Chizhov: Absolutely. I just met with the First Deputy Interior Minister of Russia. He held talks here in Brussels and exchanged experience with his EU and Belgian colleagues on organising large sports events with a view to the 2018 FIFA Cup. The Middle East Quartet Envoys meeting was held here last week and there was an event in the European Parliament on Thursday. So communication is taking place. We are preparing a Russia-EU meeting of Political Directors. I hope that it will take place in Moscow in late February.
Question: Do you continue dialogue on energy issues with Maroš Šefčovič, the Vice President of the European Commission, or his office?
Vladimir Chizhov: We do. I just saw him again recently, after his return from Moscow.
Question: The European Commission reported that it would analyse Russia’s intention to avoid gas transit via Ukraine after 2019 and sell it to European customers at the Turkish-Greek border? Do you cooperate on this issue?
Vladimir Chizhov: Of course, we do.
Question: Is head of EU diplomacy Federica Mogherini still planning to visit Moscow?
Vladimir Chizhov: As far as I know, she does and confirms this through her confidants. There was some gossip in the media that she did not dare raise this issue at the latest EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting because she was apprehensive that she would be denied permission to go. However, Ms Mogherini does not need any permission from the Council. She is fairly independent and her status allows her to go. She means to visit Moscow. Understandably, she needs to choose the right time. Furthermore, we believe that the consultations of the Political Directors should take place first. We are now attempting to fix the date. I hope they will be held in late February in Moscow. Our side is represented in this format by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov and the EU by Helga Schmid, the Deputy Executive Secretary General for Political Affairs of the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Question: A year ago the Joint Statement on Combatting Terrorism was adopted at the Russia-EU summit. Is anything being done in this context?
Vladimir Chizhov: We are preparing consultations at expert level, though the date has not been agreed yet.
Question: You said last week that the EU leadership should exert influence on Kiev. Does the EU have levers of influence and if it does, why it is not using them?
Vladimir Chizhov: Of course, it has them. The problem is not that it lacks or does not have enough of them. The problem is the lack of collective political will of 28 EU member states. The continued connivance at the “party of war” in Kiev is largely a result of this.
Question: The economic state of the eurozone and, as a result, the EU as a whole is not easy. What do your EU partners think about this?
Vladimir Chizhov: They think, and I believe they do so with good reason, that the current crisis phenomena can be overcome. They are cautious about the terms but believe that the EU leadership did the right things recently. It is of course clear, however, that this year will be fairly difficult for the EU.
Question: Talk that Greece may quit the eurozone was again resumed on the eve of the elections in this country. Now that the elections are over, what could you say about this risk today? Is Europe ready for this turn of events? What shall we expect?
Vladimir Chizhov: I do not like guesswork. The political forces that came to power in Greece and this is not just SYRIZA but also its junior partner in the coalition – the party of Independent Greeks, — are united by their rejection of the policy of tough savings that they associate with Brussels and personally with Ms Merkel. But they do not advocate withdrawal from the eurozone. They stand for the revision of the memorandum on the basis of which Greece receives loans from the IMF and the EU. This will be the subject of negotiations. I think the creditors of Greece understand that this issue cannot be resolved without concessions. I also think that in Athens they understand that it will be hard without an agreement. It is difficult to say at this point what this agreement will look like and how much time it will take to reach it but it is abundantly clear that it will be a slow and difficult process.
Question: The EU Foreign Affairs Council decided to extend the sanctions that were valid until 17 March to September 2015.
Vladimir Chizhov: These were the so-called Crimean sanctions. Considering the EU’s die-hard position on Crimea, I think that there are no grounds to hope that these sanctions will be lifted soon. The EU does not really suffer from the Crimean sanctions. What damages it are sectoral economic sanctions against Russia. I think it is more realistic to speak about the prospects of their cancellation.
Question: Are there such prospects this year?
Vladimir Chizhov: Absolutely. Probably, closer to summer. But let me point out that these sanctions are not a subject of our dialogue with the EU.
Question: Let us speak about the initiative of launching a Russian-language channel that would broadcast to Eastern Partnership countries and the Russian-language audience of the EU.
Vladimir Chizhov: Let me quote a statement by the Finnish foreign minister. Replying to the question of why Helsinki does not support the initiative of the four EU countries, he said, specifically referring to representatives of the Baltic states, that Finland had always understood the importance of this work. This is why Finland has Russian-language television and several radio stations. As for the Baltic states, they have been rejecting the Russian language all these years and unwillingly oriented their Russian-speaking audience to Moscow. By the way, the EU has a Russian-language channel – Euronews.
Question: Let me turn to Ukraine’s issue. What are the chances for its political settlement within, say, one year?
Vladimir Chizhov: It is possible to resolve it even in one month if Kiev displays political will. But what inclusive dialogue can there be when the Ukrainian leaders are merely talking about political settlement but at the same time are stepping up the shelling and bombing of Lugansk and Donetsk, announcing yet another mobilisation, openly or covertly begging the West for weapons, when the Verkhovnaya Rada is calling Russia the aggressor country and blaming the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics for being terrorist organisations?
Question: When could the talks on Ukraine continue in the Normandy format?
Vladimir Chizhov: The format does not matter – it may be Normandy or Geneva or even Martian. What matters is direct dialogue between Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk. For the time being there is only one such format – the Minsk one. Whether not only OSCE but also someone else should be at the negotiations table does not matter so much. It is important to make sure that authorised representatives of Kiev, Donetsk and Lugansk take part in the talks. Actually, I have a feeling of déjà-vu. Whenever there appears even a distant prospect of political settlement, something horrible happens – either the Boeing disaster or the yellow bus or Mariupol.
Question: Something like a provocation?
Vladimir Chizhov: Absolutely.
Question: What can be done about this? Is it possible to bring this home to the EU? It could exert some influence, it could do something.
Vladimir Chizhov: This is what we are doing on a daily basis.
