Western countries should engage in direct talks with Russia over the crisis in Ukraine and refrain from the "logic of confrontation" with Moscow, the European Union's foreign policy chief says, Press TV reported.
The West should "begin direct discussions with Moscow over our mutual relations and the role Russia can play in other crises" apart from the Ukrainian one, Federica Mogherini said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, released on Sunday.
"I often speak to (US Secretary of State John) Kerry and there is complete unity in views on the Ukrainian crisis, and similar views exist in other countries, from Canada to Japan. And everyone wants to end the logic of confrontation" with Russia, Mogherini added.
She also noted that Moscow plays an important role not only in Ukraine but also in other parts of the world.
Relations between Russia and the West have been strained over the conflict in Ukraine. The United States along with other Western governments accuse Russia of sending troops into eastern Ukraine in support of pro-Russia forces there, an allegation denied by the Kremlin.
Western states have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, including on its financial and energy sectors, and put a number of Russian nationals close to President Vladimir Putin under sanction, too.
In a tit-for-tat measure, Moscow imposed year-long food bans on the US, the EU, Australia, Canada, and Norway in August. The move is estimated to cost European agricultural industries billions of dollars in damages.
Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east became the scene of deadly clashes between pro-Russia protesters and the Ukrainian army after the government in Kiev launched military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush protests.