Europe should not take orders from US on Russia ties: Juncker
The European Commission’s president says Europe should not take orders from the United States when it comes to its relations with Russia.
“We can’t let our relationship with Russia be dictated by Washington,” Jean-Claude Juncker said in the southern German town of Passau on Thursday, Russia Today reported.
“Russia must be treated decently,” he said, stressing, “We must make efforts towards a practical relationship with Russia…we can’t go on like this.”
Relations between Russia and the West have been strained since Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea joined the Russian Federation following a referendum back in March 2014. The West brands the development as Moscow’s annexation of the territory.
Relations soured further after Ukraine launched military operations in April 2014 to silence pro-Russia protests in the country’s eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The United States and its allies in Europe accuse Moscow of having a major hand in the crisis in eastern Ukraine, which has led to the deaths of thousands of people.
Russia denies the charges, saying it is supporting the ethnic Russian population living in the area against the continued suppression of their rights by the Ukrainian government.
Washington has imposed sanctions on Russia over the Ukrainian crisis. The European Union (EU) followed suit last July.
Moscow has retaliated by imposing sanctions of its own against Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia.
An armistice has, however, reportedly been holding between Kiev and the pro-Russians in eastern Ukraine since September 1.
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