On February 24, at the initiative of the EU side, a meeting was held between the Permanent Representative of Russia to the EU, V.A.Chizhov, and the Secretary General of the European Foreign Policy Service, S. Sannino (Italy).
During the conversation, V.A.Chizhov outlined Russian assessments of the situation around the Ukrainian crisis, focusing in detail on the reasons that required the leadership of our country to make a decision on recognizing the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic, and then on conducting a special military operation on the basis of Article 51 of the UN Charter and Treaties on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between the Russian Federation and these states.
S. Sannino in response referred to the statement issued earlier in the day by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Zh.Borrel and the “primary” package of unilateral restrictive measures adopted by the European Union, and also said that at the upcoming meeting of the European Council (EU summit) on the evening of February 24, 2022, the situation in Ukraine and Russia-EU relations will be the subject of careful discussion with the possible adoption of a political decision on the introduction of additional restrictions.
The Russian side stressed the illegitimate and unjustified nature of such unilateral measures, which can only aggravate the already difficult situation in Russian-EU relations. The partners were warned that such a line would inevitably meet retaliatory steps from the Russian side.
