About: Vladimir Chizhov Archives

Speaking to the press in Brussels on Tuesday (5 May), Russian Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov conveyed the message that the EU leaders who decided not to attend the 9 May celebration of the allied victory in World War II are in fact offending his country, who, in his opinion, made the greatest sacrifice to defeat Nazism.

The Gazprom case was not initiated by EU-based energy companies, but by the Lithuanian government, which was at that time involved in arbitration with Gazprom, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s Ambassador to the European Union, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

EXCLUSIVE/ A telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras yesterday (5 February) covered the situation in Ukraine and the South Stream and Turkish Stream pipeline projects, the Kremlin announced. In the meantime, the Russian Ambassador to the EU provided EURACTIV with some insight on Russian plans.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine can only be resolved by political means. Arming Ukraine is the worst idea under present circumstances, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's Ambassador to the EU, told EURACTIV, in an exclusive interview.

Russia is fully prepared to reinvigorate its relations with the new European Commission, led by Jean-Claude Juncker, Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview. “I would suggest that we should not concentrate on slogans, or debate whether our relationship is strategic or not, but rather look into the substance”, the diplomat said. 

Russian ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said yesterday (20 October) that Ukraine is counting on “international support” to pay off its $3.1 billion dollar (€2.43 billion) debt to Gazprom by the end of the month.

The Russian ambassador to the EU warned Tuesday (9 September) that an Ukrainian admission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) would create the biggest security risk in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and warned against hardliners in Kyiv who may seek to derail a fragile peace process in eastern Ukraine.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was the driving force behind a joint letter in support of the South Stream project to the European Commission by the leaders of the countries through which the gas pipeline would pass, EURACTIV has learnt. But the effort appears wasted as Bulgaria has now ordered work on the initiative to stop.

EXCLUSIVE / As leaders of the G8 will get together without Russian President Vladimir Putin at today's G7 meeting in Brussels, Russian ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov spoke to EURACTIV about this summit, the 70th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, EU-Russia energy relations and the Ukraine  crisis.

The European Commission asked the Bulgarian government to suspend work on Gazprom's South Stream gas pipeline, pending a decision on its conforming with EU law, it was announced today (3 June). But the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which is the senior partner in the country’s minority government, was quick to reply that its construction will continue as planned.

EXCLUSIVE / If the West decides to sanction Russia by boycotting the G8 summit in Sochi, this gathering of the world’s major players will not become a G7, but will simply disappear, and Russia will not see it as a blow, because it considers Ukraine as more important than G8, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s ambassador to the EU, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview. 

EXCLUSIVE / Russia is not threatening Ukraine, but trying to explain to its neighbour the downside of EU association, Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview. He also said that even if Kyiv signs the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement in Vilnius in November, the next Ukrainian parliament may not ratify it.

Despite increased interest in staging EU-Russia informal summits such as the one held in Moscow last month (21-22 March), deep differences remain, said Russian ambassador to the EU in an exclusive interview with EURACTIV. Divisions persist particularly over the UK-French attempt to lift the arms embargo on Syrian rebels. He warns that such an action would breach the terms of the EU’s own declaration on arms supply.

Russia understands the present difficulties holding up the process of EU integration, just like EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy has never publicly criticised Moscow over the human rights situation in Russia "because he understands it," Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's ambassdor to the EU, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.

Putin did not shift any power to the executive, the Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told EURACTIV in an interview, on the occasion of the inauguration of President Dmitry Medvedev.