Cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow should not be opposed to relations with Brussels, says Russian diplomat

11:52

Minister-Counselor of the Russian Embassy in Ukraine Vsevolod Loskutov has said he doesn't believe that by intensifying cooperation with Russia, Ukraine is moving away from the EU.

"I have always thought that it was a far-fetched assumption... It is a myth that Ukraine is moving away [from the EU]... I don't see Ukraine moving away from the EU. On the contrary, I see progress in economic, visa issues," Loskutov said in an interview Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, Russia has always welcomed Ukraine's intention to develop its relations with the EU.

"We ourselves have very close relations with the EU as a whole, and with its individual countries, so we have never been against it," the diplomat added.

Loskutov said the development of Ukrainian-Russian cooperation in various areas could in no way interfere with Ukraine's relations with the EU states. He also noted that Ukraine benefited from Russia's experience of cooperation with the European Union.

At the same time, Loskutov said it was impossible to compare Ukrainian-Russian relations with those between Ukraine and the EU.