Vladimir Chizhov, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the European Union. File photoBRUSSELS, Feb 9Contacts between representatives of Russia and the European Union in Brussels have not become very active due to the crisis around Ukraine, but they have not come to naught, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's permanent representative to the European Union, said in an interview with RIA Novosti. There has been a lot of talk about Russia in Brussels lately. The EU leadership declares a crisis in relations with the Russian Federation, threatening new sanctions due to the situation with Ukraine. At the same time, the EU leadership notes that it hopes to defuse the situation through diplomatic efforts.The situation in relations between Russia and the EU is too exalted, Chizhov said. Answering the question whether the permanent representative of the Russian Federation is in contact with representatives of the EU authorities in Brussels, he said: “Yes, of course. The other day I have another meeting with the leadership of the European External Action Service (EBU)… I can say that our contacts in Brussels have become especially active lately, but they have not come to naught. «The plans attributed to Russia to escalate the situation around Ukraine in Moscow are categorically denied and constantly declare that they are not threatening anyone, and all such statements are used as an excuse to deploy more NATO military equipment near Russian borders. As Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier, Russia does not create any pretexts for a conflict situation around Ukraine. According to him, Russia does not rule out that the hysteria around Ukraine, hyped by the West, is aimed at covering Kiev's line of sabotaging the Minsk agreements on Donbass. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, the information hysteria of the US and NATO on Ukraine is generously framed by lies and fakes. dialogue with Russia is abnormal, Chizhov said
