EAEU must leave door open for cooperation with EU, says Lavrov

MOSCOW (TASS): Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is confident that the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) must leave the door open for cooperation with EU member states.

The minister stressed that all the countries on the Eurasian continent that form part of integration organizations or that have not joined any of them yet must have an opportunity to determine their benefits of cooperation. “For example, the EAEU, in the face of the Eurasian Economic Commission, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),” Lavrov said in an interview with Kazakhstan’s Khabar Agency. “I am confident that we must leave the door open for the other organizations on our shared enormous continent, including members of the European Union.”

The Russian top diplomat pointed out that the Eurasian continent is vast, and it is the richest one when it comes to resources, market size, talented citizens and research that introduces modern technologies in all spheres of life. “For several years, we have been saying that it makes sense to form a greater Eurasian partnership, an integration outline that EAEU, ASEAN, SCO member states can join,” the minister said.

The EAEU is an international integration economic union. Its member states are Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. Moldova, Cuba and Uzbekistan are EAEU observer states.