Top EU official calls for talks with Russians
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THE European Union needs to engage with Russia despite the painful sanctions they have exchanged over the past two years, a top EU official said yesterday during a rare visit that some companies hope will herald an easing in relations.
After a two-year break that felt more like a boycott, the leaders of some European states and chief executives of top multinational companies are back at Russia’s top economic gathering in a sign of weariness about sanctions. The CEOs of American companies attended against the direct recommendation of the US government.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the EU’s Executive Commission, is the highest-ranking EU official to visit Russia since the country annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, triggering US and EU sanctions against Russia. Moscow responded with a block on imports of meat, vegetable and dairy products from the European Union, dealing a heavy blow to agriculture-dependent nations such as Greece.
In his address to the forum, Juncker lashed out at his critics in Europe, who argued that his visit to Russia could signal that the EU was ready to compromise on sanctions while Russia is still not willing to help advance the peace process in Ukraine.
“I take the view that we must talk with Russia, the leadership, its people: for some it must be a radical idea; for me it’s common sense,” he said in remarks that triggered applause.
Beyond the sanctions, the US and EU kicked Russia out of the G-8 group of nations.
Juncker said the relationship between Russia and the EU is “not broken beyond repair. We need to mend it and I believe we can.”
However, he made a point of confirming the EU’s stance that it does not accept Russia’s annexation of Crimea because it has “shaken the very principles of European security” and still views the Minsk peace accords for Ukraine as the only conditions for the sanctions to be lifted.
“Russia is party to the Minsk agreement,” he said. “The next step is clear: the full implementation of the agreement, no more, not less, this is the only way to lift the economic sanctions.”
Once a showcase of Russia’s geopolitical weight and economic attractiveness, the St Petersburg Economic Forum — dubbed Russia’s Davos — was a pathetic sight the past two years. European leaders and heads of the major companies who once had lucrative long-term projects in Russia were nowhere to be seen.
This year’s gathering, however, signals what could be an emerging movement within the EU to ease the economic sanctions.
Chief executives of major European companies who are either engaged in long-term projects in Russia or whose projects were affected by the sanctions are coming this year, including the CEOs of oil company ExxonMobil, the chairman of the board of Nestle SA and others.
Moscow has been keen to spin the attendance as a sign that European politicians have failed to convince businesses to break ties with Russia.
US authorities have dismissed the participation of ExxonMobil, a pillar of the American economy, as an exception.
US State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday that “attending this forum sends a poor message out there about the acceptability of Russia’s actions.”
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