Portugal hopeful EU, Russia will resume stable relations

Portugal’s government hopes that conditions will be created for the European Union and Russia to resume stable relations, Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said in an interview with TASS prior to his meeting with Russian top diplomat Sergei Lavrov in Lisbon.

"Our position has always been the pursuit of the regularization of the relationship with Russia," the Portuguese foreign minister said, adding that "part of this sanction regime is directly connected with the implementation of the Minsk agreements on Ukraine."

"Therefore, any decision on sanctions will depend on positive developments in that process. We do hope that eventually conditions are in place so as to resume the stable relations that hitherto existed between the EU and Russia," Santos Silva noted.

When asked if Russia and Portugal could cooperate in the field of cyber security, he said that "cyber security is an area on which Portugal works within the framework of the EU-NATO cooperation." "Therefore, relations with Russia on that matter would always have to happen in relation to that context. It is, indeed, a very important domain, where the respect of international law and the peaceful and respectful relations between nations play a crucial role," the Portuguese foreign minister stressed.