Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses the organisers and participants of the 9th European Russian Forum

Опубликовано пн, 11/30/2015 - 00:00

Unofficial translation

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

To the organisers and participants of the 9th European Russian Forum

I would like to offer my warmest greetings to the organisers and participants of the 9th European Russian Forum.

Over the years your meetings have proven themselves as a much-needed format for addressing a wide range of issues on the European agenda. In the turbulent situation the world is facing this work, contributing to maintaining trust and mutual understanding on our common continent, acquires particular importance.

Today Russia-EU relations are going through challenging times. Nevertheless, we are convinced that we can manage to reverse the negative trend and get back on the path of multidimensional partnership. It is even more so, as multiple threats and challenges of the modern world, primarily the unprecedented surge in international terrorism, demand joint efforts on a firm basis of international law. Obviously, to achieve this we need to break the vicious logic of unilateral actions and drop any attempts to create new dividing lines. 

We are interested in developing constructive cooperation based on the principles of equality and respect of each other’s interests with anyone who is ready to do so, including with our European partners. We continue to call for ultimate establishment of an economic and humanitarian cooperation zone stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, based on an architecture of equal and indivisible security. We count on the participants of the Forum, many of whom are well familiar with the situation both in their countries of residence and in Russia, to make their full contribution to this goal.

I wish you fruitful work and all the best.

(signed)
Sergey Lavrov


Moscow, 30 November 2015