You're reading: Diplomat: Ukraine events pretext for slowdown in EU visa dialogue with Russia

The European Union used the events in Ukraine as another pretext to slow down the dialogue on the visa issue, officials in Moscow said. 

“The EU, which has deliberately and from the start taken the course towards all kinds of protraction of the visa-free dialogue, made use of the Ukrainian situation as yet another pretext for not bringing forward the completion of the visa-free dialogue and the start of talks with Russia on visa cancellation, to which we have come quite close thanks to the intensive work over the past three years,” Russian Foreign Ministry’s Special Ambassador Anvar Azimov, who is Russia’s chief negotiator in the visa-free dialogue with the EU, told Interfax.

“Brussels’ decision to suspend the bilateral dialogue with Russia on visa matters causes bewilderment and regret. Such a step by our partners once again attests to a clearly politicized and selective approach of the EU leaders in considering the liberalization of the visa regime with other nations, primarily with Russia,” Azimov said.