MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Envoy to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said Friday that the European Union has not changed its decision to freeze talks with Moscow on a new base agreement and on the issue of visa-free travel.
“I can’t say that the situation has radically changed,” Chizhov said during a live internet conference between Moscow and Brussels.
“Talks on a new base agreement have been running in place, and in regard to the easing of visas, then there hasn’t been any progress for quite a long time because the European Union took a break one step before finalizing the agreement,” Chizhov said.
In March, EU leaders decided to freeze negotiations with Russia on a visa-free regime as part of sanctions against Moscow following Crimea’s referendum to reunify with Russia. The West refused to recognize its’ results, when 96 percent of voters supported reunification with Russia.
Earlier, Vladimir Chizhov said talks between Moscow and Brussels on a visa-free regime have already been “de-facto frozen by the EU.”
Russia submitted a draft deal on simplifying the visa regime to the European Union at a Russia-EU summit in 2010, but the EU has been reluctant to move ahead with the issue amid concerns that it could lead to a rise in crime and illegal immigration.
The talks on visa-free travel are not expected to recommence any time soon amid the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West, as a result of differing views on Ukraine.
Earlier this month, in an effort to put further economic and political pressure on Russia, the European Union and the United States introduced new, broader sanctions against Russia.
Moscow has repeatedly said the language of sanctions is counterproductive and stated that the measures are "a road to nowhere."
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