Russia Ready To Work With EU To Mitigate Impact Of US Withdrawal From Treaties - Moscow

Moscow is prepared to start improving relations with the European Union and work together with the bloc to minimize the negative impact of the United States' withdrawal from such major international agreements as the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement on climate change, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of European Cooperation Vladislav Maslennikov said on Thursday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2018) Moscow is prepared to start improving relations with the European Union and work together with the bloc to minimize the negative impact of the United States' withdrawal from such major international agreements as the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement on climate change, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of European Cooperation Vladislav Maslennikov said on Thursday.

"We believe that there is a need to establish a dialogue between Russia and the European Union on transatlantic issues. In this format, we could work on minimizing the negative consequences of Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the the Iran nuclear deal], the Paris Agreement on climate change, and other rash decisions of the White House," Maslennikov said.

The diplomat added that Russia was ready to start restoring normal relations with the bloc based on mutual respect.

Ties between Russia and the European Union took a nosedive following the reunification of the Crimean peninsula with Russia in 2014, which the West slammed as allegedly illegitimate, slapping Russia with sanctions.

Moscow has repeatedly said that Crimean residents voluntarily chose to rejoin Russia and that the vote was held in compliance with international law.

The United States unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in May over US President Donald Trump's dissatisfaction with the agreement, which he called the "worst deal ever." Washington's withdrawal led to the reinstatement of US sanctions against Tehran, a move that threatened countries and companies that continued to do business with Iran after the restrictions come into force. Trump's decision was not welcomed by other signatories to the deal � China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

Prior to that, the US president withdrew from the Paris climate deal, a historic agreement created within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to fight climate change and ratified by 184 parties to the convention.

In late October, Trump also announced that he was going to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia, arguing that Moscow had been violating the accord.