Russia is interested in restoring full-fledged relations with the European Union and is ready to work together with every political force supported by EU voters, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the Italian Corriere della Sera daily, published on Thursday.
"We are interested in restoring full-fledged relations between Russia and the European Union; in preserving peace; in ensuring security and stability on our common continent. We are ready for constructively working together with all political forces that have received mandates from European voters", Putin said in the interview, published in Italian.
Moscow does not interfere in other states’ domestic affairs and this is the key characteristic distinguishing Russia from the United States and some of its allies, Putin said.
"I would like to state this pretty clear. We have not meddled and do not plan to meddle in the internal affairs of EU countries nor other states of the world. This is our key difference from the United States and a number of its allies which, for example, supported the overthrow in Ukraine in February 2014", Putin noted.
Putin observed that claims that Russia had allegedly meddled in US elections were "the height of absurdity." The president recalled that US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into these allegations had "ended in nothing, in failure" as investigators had been unable to collect facts proving any meddling, since they did not exist.
"The fact that the sanctions introduced against our country under the pretext of these allegations are still in force is interesting. The buzz around the Russian meddling in EU electoral processes is similar. [These allegations] were disseminated right ahead of the European Parliament elections. It seemed that there were some attempts to suggest to Europeans that it was the "evil Russian interference" that was behind low results of some political forces" at the elections, the president detailed.
Those voicing these claims have sought to demonize Russia in the face of European citizens, Putin said.
The Russian president stressed that his country is interested in resuming full-fledged relations with the European Union and is ready for further cooperation with all forces supported by EU voters to keep security and stability "on the continent".
Apart from EU-Russia relations, the Russian president also commented on recent developments around the new START treaty. According to Putin, Moscow sees no readiness from Washington to discuss a possible extension for the arms control treaty, adding that prospects of US-Russia cooperation in the sphere of strategic arms remain unclear.
"The New START treaty expires in early 2021. We cannot see the United States’ readiness to discuss prolonging it or negotiating a new agreement", Putin argued.
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