Iohannis: We cannot tolerate certain issues in our relation with Russian Federation, collaboration, beneficial

President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that there are a number of issues that need to be discussed and clarified in the EU's relationship with the Russian Federation, noting that there are matters that cannot be tolerated, while also maintaining that collaboration would be beneficial in some areas, agerpres reports.

The head of state was asked about France and Germany's exploratory approach regarding the possibility of organizing an EU summit with the Russian Federation.

"We will firstly discuss this issue in the Council and it is there that I will give our opinion for the first time and not in the public space, but I can tell you right now that there are very different issues that need to be discussed and clarified in relation to the Russian Federation, because there are matters that we cannot tolerate, but there are certain areas where a discussion and collaboration would be beneficial, for example if we want to have a common plan to combat climate change, there we all need to discuss, it is a global issue that concerns us all and in this context, we must certainly have approaches that are feasible. The discussion will be very complicated, because opinions are very divided, but it is important, in my opinion, to find a way in which we can very firmly express our position based on values, but on the other hand on global issues we should find a channel of communication," said President Iohannis before attending the European Council meeting.

He was also asked if there should be a wider participation in such a summit.

"I think it's a little early to talk about the format. For now, we're discussing the main issues," Iohannis said.