Russia's Image Cultivated In West Has Nothing To Do With Reality - Deputy Minister

Russia's image cultivated by the Western public opinion is far from reality, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Thursday, stressing the need to restore a normal dialogue between the two parties.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2018) Russia's image cultivated by the Western public opinion is far from reality, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said on Thursday, stressing the need to restore a normal dialogue between the two parties.

Earlier on Thursday, Grushko delivered a speech at a conference devoted to the relations between Brussels and Moscow titled "Russia and the European Union in Global Policy: Toward Stable and Just Public Order?"

"In the absence of normal communication at the intergovernmental level ... and with an image of Russia being imposed on Western public, which has nothing to do with Russia's real goals in the global and international security and the aspirations of our people, of course .

.. the attempts to restore a normal politicization-free dialogue at a professional and political level count for a lot," Grushko said.

The relations between Moscow and Western states deteriorated over situation in Ukraine and Crimea's reunification with Russia. The West imposed sanctions against Russia over its alleged interference in the Ukrainian conflict. In turn, Moscow responded by imposing a trade embargo against the EU countries. Since then, the Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that the use of sanctions against the country is counterproductive and called for the normalization of relations.