Knut Fleckenstein, the S&D vice-president responsible for foreign affairs, has welcomed European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker's plans to attend the St Petersburg international economic forum this month – a major international conference of politicians, business leaders and thinkers.

Knut Fleckenstein MEP said: 

"I encourage the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to participate in this important meeting. The European Union must find a pragmatic way to deal with Russia, without denying the serious differences between us. Bringing relations out of the crisis will not be possible when all dialogue is blocked.

"Despite the existing problems and disagreements, we need a dialogue between the EU and Russia in order to jointly tackle the many global challenges."