MOSCOW, August 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is in favor of closer cooperation with the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday.
“We are in favor of creating tighter cooperation between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union and beginning to find a way of interfacing both integrated processes,” Putin said during a meeting with the presidents of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and representatives of the European Commission.
Putin said he hoped that EU representatives would also back the creation of a single economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
“We, I emphasize, are ready to discuss any variants founded on mutual interests,” Putin said.
The Russian president’s suggestion is a sign of willingness to cooperate despite the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union, the United States and other Western countries.
Russia, alongside Ukraine, Belarus and EU member states, is participating in a multilateral meeting in Minsk that is expected to see the discussion of acute issues, such as the crisis in Ukraine, the humanitarian situation in the east of the country, the possibility of talks between the Ukrainian government and the country’s eastern regions, as well as Ukraine’s association agreement with the European Union.
It is hoped that the participants will manage to work out a road map for non-violent resolution of the conflict in the troubled east of Ukraine.
Moscow has repeatedly underlined the importance of a comprehensive dialogue to secure long-term peace in Ukraine, and expressed its readiness to participate in consultations, in contrast with previous accusations by the West that Russia has been meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs and fueling the confrontation between Kiev-backed forces and independence supporters.
