Sat, 05 Apr, 2014 01:31:01 AM FTimes-STT Report, April 5  Greek Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos (L), Vice President of the European Commission and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and security policy Catherine Ashton pose with Finland's foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja (R) before an Informal Meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers (Gymnich) at the Zappeion Hall in Athens on April 4, 2014. Photo AFP-Lehtikuva Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja has expressed belief that Russia was showing readiness in recent days to engage in negotiations to resolve the ongoing Ukrainian crisis.
The foreign minister made the remarks on Friday during his visit to Athens where the foreign ministers of the member states of the European Union met.
According to Tuomioja, Russia was in touch with the Ukrainian administration, but actual negotiations were still not on.
Describing the situation as relieved, he said the general assessment was that Russia does not plan to use the military force which has been built up in the east of the Ukrainian border.
"We know that there is sufficient military force in case it has to be used," said Tuomioja in an interview with news agency STT, adding that the economic costs to use force were too high for Russia.
Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja (L) and Moldova's President Nicolae Timofti shake hands as they meet in Chisinau, on April 4, 2014. Tuomiojais on a visit to Moldova. Photo AFP-Lehtikuva Tuomioja arrived in Athens after his visit to Moldova where he had met the country’s leadership during a two day visit.
In Chisinau, Tuomioja had talks with his Moldovan counterpart Natalia Gherman and also met Moldovan President Nicolae Timofti, Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and President of the Moldovan Parliament Igor Corman.
The topics of the discussions included bilateral relations between the countries, the relations between Moldova and the EU, the EU’s eastern partnership, and regional issues, according to an official press release.
Tuomioja is also participating in the two-day informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union Member States (Gymnich) in Athens that began on Friday.
The main topics of the two-day meeting are the EU’s neighbourhood policy, focusing on the eastern neighbourhood and the situation in Ukraine in particular.
The ministers are also scheduled to discuss the EU's southern neighbourhood, particularly focusing on the situation in Syria.
The neighbourhood policy will also be one of the topics on the agenda of a separate meeting held with the candidate countries for accession to the EU on Saturday.
On the second day of the Gymnich meeting, the ministers will have a discussion on EU strategic partners.
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