Russia Would Appreciate Belgian Efforts To Mediate Crisis In Ties With EU - Prime Minister

Fahad Shabbir (@FahadShabbir) Published October 19, 2018 | 10:33 PM

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that Russia would welcome Belgian help in mending Moscow's ties with the European Union, at a press briefing in Brussels.

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday that Russia would welcome Belgian help in mending Moscow's ties with the European Union, at a press briefing in Brussels.

"If our partners are willing to help Russia restore and develop its ties with the European Union we will only appreciate it... Our partners in Belgium have expressed their interest in this," he told reporters.

Speaking after a meeting with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, Medvedev said that trade between Russia and EU countries slumped by a half over the past several years.

He urged governments who want to see economic and political ties between Russia and the soon-to-be-27-nation union to come forward and play a bigger role in the process.

Ties between Russia and the European Union soured over the 2014 crisis in Ukraine when the bloc imposed economic sanctions on Moscow. Russia denied a role in the armed conflict in Ukraine's east and retaliated by banning a number of EU food imports.