DISINFO: The EU destroyed relations with Russia
SUMMARY
Moscow has no relations with the EU, they were destroyed by Brussels. Europe broke these relations, simply destroying all the mechanisms that had been created for many years, and Russia now has only individual European countries, guided by their national interests, as partners.
The "infrastructure of relations" between Moscow and Brussels has been destroyed by the EU.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative attempting to put responsibility for the state of EU-Russian relations on Brussels, alleging that the EU is destroying them and ignoring the reasons behind the sanctions.
The EU has imposed restrictive measures, including sectoral sanctions, as a result of the illegal annexation of Crimea and Russia's destabilising actions in eastern Ukraine. Formats such as regular high-level dialogues remain suspended in the absence of the full implementation of the Minsk agreements by Russia. These events have seriously affected bilateral relations.
The EU has also strongly condemned the assassination attempt using chemical weapons on Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny and sanctioned 6 individuals and 1 entity as a result. There is unequivocal evidence that Navalny was poisoned using a Novichok-type nerve agent.
However, Russia remains a natural partner for the EU and a strategic player combating the regional and global challenges. The EU’s approach to Russia is guided by five principles agreed in 2016 and reaffirmed, most recently, by EU Foreign Ministers in October 2020. On behalf of the European Union, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP), Josep Borrell travelled to Moscow in February 2021 with the intention of pursuing a dialogue on core issues in the relations between the European Union and Russia. The Kremlin answered the European Union’s invitation to dialogue with a shameless attempt to deflect attention from its violations of Russia’s international obligations and own laws. However, the EU will continue to engage with Russia when it is in the interest of the EU.
Read more about the EU-Russia relations here.
See similar disinformation case in our database claiming that Russia-EU relations were destroyed by unilateral decisions of Brussels.