Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrive for a joint news conference following their talks at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, February 17, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shipenkov/Pool
Reuters: Putin says EU-Russia ties will return to normal 'sooner or later'
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he is sure that relations between Russia and the European Union will get back to normal sooner or later.
"It will happen sooner or later. Relations between Russia and the European Union will be normalized," Putin said after talks at his residence near Moscow with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The EU imposed sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Some European leaders, including Orban, want to restore trade relations with Russia, testing EU solidarity over the issue.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Putin after their talks, Orban said he believed EU economic sanctions against Russia won't be extended this year, when they are due for renewal.
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WNU Editor: It depends on Ukraine. As long as the war continues in eastern Ukraine, tensions will remind high. And for the war to end, the Ukraine government will need to come to an accommodation with its Russian-Ukrainian community. Unfortunately ... that sentiment is not there at the moment.
3 comments:
No Normal relations with a terrorist regime that strikes Hospitals, civillians, schools, invaded Ukr etc. To hell with putin and his regime.
EU dont need RU but RU without EU is "dead"
Good luck with that.
Actually eventually the EU will have to normalize relations with Russia. Sanctions against Russia were a strategically stupid idea by the EU and others that only strengthened Putin's position. To a point, he likes the sanctions as they strengthen his position. When they no longer suit him, he is going to make sure they are ended on his terms.
Russia is today the most powerful nation in the world and will likely only get stronger relative to others in the coming years. Mr. Putin's statements that relations will eventually return to normal are simply a reflection of reality, as the EU has no choice.
As for America, it's policies toward Russia should be as follows: 1.)announce in word and deed that it will oppose sanctions against Russia with every ounce of it's strength, 2.)support Russia's position in Ukraine and Crimea announcing in word and deed that it will do anything and everything in its power to assist Russia in these situations, and 3.) support Russia's position in eastern Europe with all of our might and strength.
While I would expect none of these policies changes by America to change the behavior of EU nations, it does have the possibility of helping us to improve relations with Russia. As this is the world's most powerful country militarily, it seems untenable to have bad relations with them. Furthermore we need help in dealing with Iran. This type of change in position toward Russia might help us to secure the help we need to effectively deal with this.
Chances are Russia does not need our assistance in any of the areas outlined above, however, we could at least stay out of their way. Finally, in any military confrontation with Russia at this point and likely for the foreseeable future, a Russian victory is a virtual certainty. We could/should adopt a military/defense posture that would make this inevitable victory pyric enough that Russia would not consider the attack in the first place and by supporting them where and when possible tensions between us and them could/would be lessened.
While this analysis does not attempt to evaluate the merits of any Russian positions in terms of ethics or American ones for that matter, it does acknowledge the geo political realities which many commentators completely fail to do. Bottom line Russia appears to be the most powerful country on earth and this gap is only likely to increase n the coming years. American policies need to operate accordingly.
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