European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday that Russian Federation and the EU should continue their dialogue, despite the sanctions.
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“But I truly don’t understand how 200 of our fans could beat up several thousand English”, he said, to laughs and applause from the audience.
The U.S. and Europe imposed sanctions on Russian Federation following the conflict in Ukraine and Moscow’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
The IAAF is voting on Friday on whether to lift Russia’s provisional suspension, imposed in November over a bombshell report containing evidence of state-sponsored doping and corruption in Russian athletics.
Businessmen say they are keen to bolster ties despite the sanctions – which saw Russian Federation slap a retaliatory embargo on most agricultural produce from the European Union and the United States – and say Moscow is trying to fix its tarnished image.
Once a showcase of Russia’s geopolitical weight and economic attractiveness, the St. Petersburg Economic Forum – dubbed Russia’s Davos – was a sore sight the past two years.
Punitive measures introduced by the US and the European Union as a response to Russia’s role in the Ukrainian conflict – along with the collapse of commodity prices – triggered the country’s longest recession in two decades.
At the same time Juncker admitted the EU and the European Commission have made mistakes in the past.
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia did not want a new Cold war with the West and did not like to think it was slipping into one.
He said the missile defense program is continuing despite the disappearance of the Iranian nuclear threat, which had been named as the main reason for that.
Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and its support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine landed President Vladimir Putin in global isolation.
Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said he had not worked directly with US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State.
The sanctions target imports from the peninsula and investment there, among other measures.
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But after a two-year break, seen in Russian Federation as a boycott, European leaders and chief executives of top multinational companies are back at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
