Russia denies crisis in relations with EU -report

[rodbarnett]

MOSCOW, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Russia's acting foreign minister has denied there is a crisis with the European Union despite a clash over trade relations with new EU states, Izvestia daily reported on Wednesday on its Web site.

"There is no crisis in relations between Russia and the European Union. Besides, there is absolutely no basis for saying there is," Igor Ivanov told Izvestia in an interview published on www.izvestia.ru.

"Russia and the European Union mean too much for one another," he was quoted as saying.

EU foreign ministers warned Russia on Monday that it needed to sign an agreement on trade and other issues to "avoid a serious impact on relations" when the EU takes in 10 new states on May 1 -- eight of them former Soviet bloc countries.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/02/25/rtr1275690.html


"There is no crisis in relations between Russia and the E U"