The European Union does not intend to resume cooperation with Russia in the fight against terrorism, Kirill Logvinov, director of the department for international organizations at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said in an interview with TASS.
„We have not received any proposals from the EU. And I don't think we will get any in the foreseeable future," the diplomat said, answering a question about whether the EU intends to resume the dialogue given the current situation around Syria.
European business expects Russia to quickly forget and forgive everything, but the approach to returning each brand will be individual, he said.
“The West was convinced that Russia would not withstand the sanctions pressure in the first months of the special military operation and therefore would ask European business to return on its terms,“ the diplomat said. “Secondly, the Europeans continue to reason in the spirit that our country, as has already happened in history, will quickly forget and forgive everything.
“Therefore, I am confident that our respective decisions will be made in each specific case individually and taking into account the interests of Russian manufacturers, whose products managed to replace Western analogues“, Logvinov emphasized.“
The director of the MFA department noted that “he will not erase from memory the flight of Europeans from the Russian market“.
“We did not drive anyone out of our market”, he recalled. “The decisions were made by Western companies consciously and individually. Some, he said, “got scared and immediately left, while others stayed“. "But the remaining companies, and among them there are large firms, were they not pressured by Brussels or national capitals? I am sure they were", the diplomat believes. "And this means that the decision to leave is dictated not only by the fear of the negative consequences of sanctions, but also by the personal attitude of the management of some Western companies towards Russia.
"We transferred the payments due for last year to the UN regular budget. Significant funds were deposited in the UN Secretariat account for the payment of our other contributions. However, after the authorized Gazprombank was included in the sanctions lists of the US Treasury Department at the end of 2024, the payment of Russia's mandatory and voluntary contributions to the UN and the organizations of its system is practically blocked, the money is "stuck" in the accounts opened by the UN Secretariat in Gazprombank“, he noted, answering a question about the situation with Russian contributions to UN structures.
According to Logvinov, this is a serious problem for the UN, since the functioning of the UN Secretariat, like any other organization in the UN system, critically depends on receiving contributions from member states. “Especially in light of the savings measures taken by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres“, he noted, adding that Moscow is in close contact with UN financiers and is doing everything possible to overcome the current situation.
“The main task is to create a stable channel for transferring contributions, as independent as possible from the jurisdiction of the US and the European Union. It is difficult to say yet what path will be found. Perhaps the UN Secretariat will open an account in some other country. "Despite the obstacles that are being created, our country remains committed to the timely and full fulfillment of its financial obligations," he concluded.