Russian State Duma MP: It's strange to hear now Europeans talking about the need to isolate Russia

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A statement of the European Parliament made in September about the situation in South Ossetia is one-sided and is not balanced, it was announced in the State Duma of Russian Federation by Deputy Chairman of State Duma Committee on International Affairs Andrei Klimov (United Russia party).

According to a REGNUM correspondent, Klimov opened the meeting of Russian MPs with the delegation of European MPs and said that is not only the first meeting after the August events in South Ossetia, but also the first one since the beginning of the global financial crisis. According to the parliamentarian, there is a situation that requires a detailed exchange of views. He recalled that on November, 14, the Russia-EU Summit will take place and the G8 Summit with the participation of China, Brazil and India in Washington after it.

“Now, really a lot connects us,” Klimov said. According to him, there are issues between the Russian and European sides where there is no understanding. “But we also have own questions. The September Europarliament statement on the situation in South Ossetia in our view is unbalanced and based on one-sided information,” the MP said. He drew attention to the fact that Europe insisted on respecting the principle of the right of nations to self-determination on the issue of Kosovo, while not mentioning a word about the same right for the peoples of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The MP also said that it was “strange to hear” statements of some representatives of European parties about the need to isolate Russia. It sounds especially strange, Klimov believes, while he “with Konstantin Kosachev hosts more and more European delegations.” In its turn, the head of the European Parliament Delegation Ria Oomen-Ruyten said that there are a lot of discussions in Europe on the situation in Georgia. According to her it's needed to understand how this situation affected the Russian-European relations. She also said the parties need to recognize the impossibility of a military solution of this conflict. “We should all go to Geneva and try to solve these questions collectively,” the head of the delegation of the European Parliament said.