Haavisto, Lavrov discuss Navalny, EU

Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto on Monday met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in St Petersburg of Russia and discussed various issues, including the arrest of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and EU-Russia relations.

“Frank and open discussion with FM Lavrov. I reiterated EU’s call for the release of Alexei Navalny and full investigation into his poisoning. I also raised the mistreatment of peaceful protesters,” said Haavisto in a Twitter post after the meeting.

The two foreign ministers also discussed regional cooperation and upcoming Russian chairmanship of the Arctic Council.

“People-to-people contacts are a key element in Finnish-Russian relations. We hope that the pandemic situation allows us to return to lively contacts across the border soon,” said Haavisto, adding that the situation in Ukraine was also on the agenda.

He stressed that the role of Russia in the implementation of Minsk agreements is crucial.

Haavisto condemned the expulsion of EU diplomats who attended pro-Navalny demonstrations as observers, reported the national broadcaster Yle.

On 5 February, Russia expelled three diplomats from Germany, Sweden, and Poland for joining protests in support of opposition activist Alexei Navalny.

The Russian foreign ministry said the three took part in “illegal demonstrations” on 23 January.

In response those three countries deported Russian diplomats three days later.

Lavrov, however, dismissed the issue, saying that the demonstrations were illegal as mass gatherings are banned due to the pandemic, reported the Yle.

He alleged that the deported European diplomats had participated in unauthorised rallies and were “meddling in Russia’s internal affairs,” reported the Yle quoting the Russian news agency Tass.

“Diplomats, when they [took] to the streets in this situation...knew perfectly well that they are not fulfilling their functions according to the Vienna Conventions,” asserted Lavrov.

Lavrov said Moscow is willing to normalize relations with the European Union (EU), but is also prepared for all possible scenarios, reported news agency Xinhua.

"We must be prepared for any kind of outcome," Lavrov said.

"The choice is up to the EU. If they decide that relations need to be restored and reverse actions that were aimed at breaking ties, then we will be ready for this too," he said.

Lavrov stressed that Moscow is ready to discuss matters that meet national interests such as climate change, but claimed that the framework for Russia-EU relations was "deliberately destroyed" by Brussels.

At the same time, Lavrov said that Russia does not intend to cut ties with Europe as a whole, adding that the country is still interested in developing mutually beneficial relations.