On Friday, Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, was in Moscow to meet his counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.
The meeting allowed the two foreign ministers to address bilateral relations and the priorities of the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the EU, relations between the EU and Russia, as well as major issues of international politics.
Recalling that at its last Presidency of the EU Council in 2005, Luxembourg stated that "we do not have the vocation, Russia and the EU, to divide Europe and the adjacent regions into spheres and zones of influence. All peoples and nations are free, and they are also free to choose regional cooperation that are perceived to be timely and serve their interests," Minister Asselborn stressed that "it is clear that the relationship between the EU and Russia has deteriorated. Faced with this situation, I wanted to come to visit Moscow in the early days of our Presidency."
"I do not hide that we disagree on the subject of Ukraine. This is all the more reason to intensify our dialogue," said Minister Asselborn, explaining that Luxembourg, an EU founder member, attaches great importance to the rule of law, especially for a small country as the best guarantee of its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The same goes for international law that must govern cooperation between States.
Remaining on the topic of Ukraine, Minister Asselborn reiterated the full support to the efforts of Luxembourg on the Normandy format and the work of the trilateral OSCE Group. "It is essential that all parties respect and implement the Minsk agreements because there is no alternative to Minsk. What matters now is to stop the bloodshed and to work primarily on the consolidation of the cease-fire. So must help people who are in need, with full respect for humanitarian principles. It should finally be that the flow of arms across borders ceases."
Stressing that Russia and the European Union share the same continent, Minister Asselborn said that they also have many common interests. They are interdependent and cooperate in multilateral fora to find common solutions to the great challenges of our time such as climate change, the fight against terrorism, sustainable development as well as hot topics such as the crises in the Near and Middle East. The chief of Luxembourg foreign diplomacy expressed his hope that cooperation in other fields, including high-level, becomes possible again.
Finally, Minister Asselborn paid tribute to the sacrifices of the Russian people in the year of 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Photo by MAEE: Minister Jean Asselborn with Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation.
