You're reading: Lavrov says Russia-EU economic relations should stay clear of politics

MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted on May 5 that "politics shouldn't interfere in economics" in relations between Russia and the European Union.

“We exchanged opinions about prospects for relations between Russia and the European Union. Our principle is that after all, politics shouldn’t interfere in economics,” Lavrov said after talks in Moscow on Tuesday with his Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz.

Russia-EU relations should be based on “the natural national interests of the participant countries,” Lavrov said.

“This attitude – something that we are pleased with – is shared by many politicians in Europe, including Austria, and business circles. We are sure that, on the basis of the principles of equality, mutual respect and consideration for each other’s interests, any problem in relations between Russia and the European Union can be solved,” he said.

During Tuesday’s talks, “we found a positive response from our Austrian colleagues concerning the importance of starting work to harmonize integration processes in the European and Eurasian spaces with the ultimate goal of building a single economic and cultural space from the Atlantic to the Pacific,” Lavrov said.

“We can also see a role that could be played in this work by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has the mission of doing everything possible to prevent the existence of any dividing lines in Europe and the Euro-Atlantic space – military, political, economic, or cultural,” he said.