“They agreed to continue this dialogue regularly, further increasing the effectiveness of joint work through written questions and answers,” the statement released at the conclusion of the virtual meeting.

Several members of the Russian Lower House and the European Parliament discussed on Wednesday the Ukrainian crisis and the restoration of cooperation between Russia and EU nations via videoconference.

The legislators also addressed the possibility of holding in-person meetings in the future. MEPs from Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and Luxembourg, including the latter nation’s lawmaker Fernand Kartheiser, attended the virtual meeting.

Russian MEP Leonid Slutski, Chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs, stated that this is a partial resumption of contacts and dialogue with European Parliament members that were suspended in 2014.

The European Parliament froze contacts with the Russian Lower House in March 2014 in the context of the annexation of the Peninsula of Crimea to Russia.

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