Russia is interested in the unity and stability of the European Union, which is an important trade and political partner to it, Russia's Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said at a meeting with member of the European Parliament from Lithuania and Vice-Chair of the group Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) Rolandas Paksas.
"We faced the accusations of Russia wishing to destabilize the situation in the European Union," she recalled. Matviyenko noted that if "chaos starts - God forbid that - in the EU", then "it will move on to negatively affect Russia." "Russia is not interested in it," TASS cited the Federation Council speaker as saying.
Matviyenko noted that the trade turnover between Russia and the EU grew by more than 20% in 2017 and after nine months of 2018 the growth was the same.
She also said that "there is understanding of mutual interest in cooperation". "Russia has always been and will always remain part of Europe," the Federation Council speaker stressed. "It is in the interests of both Russia and the European states to restore cooperation and interaction," Matviyenko concluded.
