Ljubljana - Saba:
Slovenian President Nataša Brc Musar described the European Union's refusal to engage with Russia as a mistake, noting that she received a "signal" from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that Brussels is working to restore engagement and dialogue with Moscow.
In an interview with Politico, the Slovenian president noted that "one of the EU's mistakes was that we stopped engaging with Russia."
In her opinion, the EU should form a group of "wise people" who will engage in "quiet" diplomacy with Russia to restore dialogue.
According to Musar, the refusal to engage with Russia has become "one of the reasons why the EU is not considered a politically powerful group."
She indicated that Europe should focus its efforts on securing an invitation to the negotiating table, which Russia, the United States, and Ukraine are already at.
Musar said that she recently discussed the issue of resuming dialogue with Moscow with von der Leyen, and confirmed that the latter informed her that "the EU is working on it."
It is noteworthy that Russia has emphasized on several occasions that the country will face the pressure of sanctions imposed by the West several years ago, which continue to increase, and that the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of sanctions against Russia.
In Western countries themselves, authorities have expressed the view that sanctions against Russia are ineffective.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has indicated that the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term Western strategy, and that the sanctions have dealt a severe blow to the entire global economy.
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