EU Leader Juncker urges closer ties with Russia amid tensions over sanctions

(Vatican Radio) The president of the European Union's executive Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has urged the EU to maintain close ties with Russia despite its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. However speaking at a top economic conference ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he also warned Moscow that the lifting of sanctions is linked to Russia's full implementation of a peace deal for Ukraine.

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

European Commission President Juncker is the highest ranking EU official to visit Russia after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. That event and Moscow's support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine triggered American and European Union sanctions against Moscow.

But after a two-year break, seen in Russia as a boycott, European leaders and chief executives of top multinational companies are back at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. That's Russia's answer to the more well-known World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

Delegates arrived at a time of growing weariness over sanctions both in Russia and within the EU as well as among businesses. And, speaking at the St. Petersburg gathering, Juncker criticized European politicians who said his visit was sending the wrong signal to Russia. "We have those who like the idea that I am here and those who don't like the idea, but I like the idea that I am here," he said, triggering applause. 

He said in the coming weeks the EU would spend "many hours" discussing its relationship with Russia "I take the view that we must talk with Russia, the leadership, its people: for some this may be a radical idea; for me it's common sense," Juncker added.  

But the top EU official also warned Russia that the 28-nation bloc will only lift its sanctions if the Kremlin fully implements a Ukraine peace deal. 

"The illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol, and the conflict in and around eastern Ukraine put the relations between the European Union and Russia to a severe test," Juncker stressed.

SHAKEN SECURITY ORDER

"Russia's actions have shaken the very principles of the European security order. Sovereign equality, the non-use of force and territorial integrity matter. They cannot be ignored," Juncker said.

And Juncker used the opportunity to urge Britain to remain in the EU, ahead of an upcoming referendum on the issue next week. 
He said Britain leaving the European Union would in his words "open a period of global uncertainty which should be avoided".

Juncker made the comments before talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin who is also hosting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Putin was also to sit down with United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon alongside the world body's envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, as he seeks to recast Moscow as a more stable partner for the West and bolster his country's flagging economy. 

Their talks come just weeks before a decision whether to extend EU sanctions that have helped push Russia's economy into its longest recession since Putin came to power 16 years ago.

Business leaders say they are eager to revive close ties with Russia as it imposed a retaliatory embargo on most agricultural produce from the EU and the United States. In a sign of at least some cooperation, Putin was set to oversee an important contract for the construction in Russia of a major liquefied gas plant with the head of Royal Dutch Shell.