The European Union must stand up to Russia to defend core political and security interests even while trying to find common cause on issues such as the Syrian conflict, the bloc's foreign ministers said Monday, according to AFP.
The ministers gathered in Brussels for a regular monthly meeting which for the first time in a year will review relations with Moscow which have been strained to breaking point by the Ukraine crisis.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said "we need to be clear about how we manage the EU's relations with Russia in the future. We have to have relationships with Russia but we can't lose sight of the challenge that Russia represents to our values and to our security, and we
have to be robust in making our case and defending our principles, our values and our borders in Europe."