On February 24, 2014 Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov, Deputy Director of RAS Institute for European Studies Alexey Gromyko, both RIAC members, and RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov participated in an unofficial meeting with heads of diplomatic missions of the EU states and leaders of Moscow-based headquarters of international organizations to discuss the developments in Ukraine.
On February 24, 2014 Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexey Meshkov, Deputy Director of RAS Institute for European Studies Alexey Gromyko, both RIAC members, and RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov participated in an unofficial meeting with heads of diplomatic missions of the EU states and leaders of Moscow-based headquarters of international organizations to discuss the developments in Ukraine.
Moderated by Vygaudas Usackas, the EU Ambassador to Russia, the event was also attended by chiefs of Moscow missions of the IBRD, EBRD and Association of European Businesses in Moscow, as well as by experts and the media.
The debate focused on potential risks of possible future aggravation of the Ukrainian socio-economic environment for its neighbor states and Europe in general, as well as the need to coordinate the efforts of Russia and EU member-states aimed at overcoming the negative consequences of the Ukrainian crisis.
The participants of the discussion came to the conclusion that Ukraine should not be seen as a platform of geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the European Union. Indeed, it is economic development assistance that might become an important direction of the Russia-EU cooperation.
