Russia To Make Every Effort To Build Relationship With France, Other EU Countries - Putin

Russia will do its utmost to build "normal" relations with France and other EU countries as they share a common history and "complement each other" in the economy and world politics, Russian President Vladimir Putin said a a meeting with the French civil society

SIMFEROPOL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2019) Russia will do its utmost to build "normal" relations with France and other EU countries as they share a common history and "complement each other" in the economy and world politics, Russian President Vladimir Putin said a a meeting with the French civil society.

"I hope that you and people in Europe ... will do everything possible to restore normal relations between Russia and the European Union, between Russia and France. It is in the interest of both the French people, the peoples of European countries, and the people of Russia ... because we complement each other in the economy, world politics, and, most importantly, we are united by the common history of our peoples," Putin stressed.

The president added that Russia would "will do [its] best to do everything [it] can to build relations with our friends in France and in Europe."

Relations between Moscow and the West deteriorated in 2014 after Crimea's reunification with Russia and amid the crisis in eastern Ukraine. The European Union and the United States imposed restrictive measures against Russian individuals, companies and economic sectors. Moscow has responded by imposing restrictions on food imports from the countries that supported the sanctions.