Lavrov: common Russia-EU goals raise hopes for thaw

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said he hopes that the EU-Russian relationship will return to normal, given their shared economic and security priorities.

"We hope that common sense will prevail and the Russian-EU relationship will get back to normal and will be governed by respect for each other's interests, considering that Russia and the EU have common goals – from stable growth to an effective fight against numerous security challenges", the minister told a Bulgarian publication, International Life.

He said that years of tit-for-tat restrictions had cost EU companies billions of euros in lost revenues. Lavrov invited Europe to make the first step by scrapping the sanctions.

"Then Russia will cancel its countermeasures. The ball is in the EU's court," Russia's top diplomat stressed.