MOSCOW, February 27 (Itar-Tass) —— Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin does not rule out that Russia can give a direct financial aid to European countries, which turned out to be a critical situation.
“Russia got involved actively in international measures to support crisis-affected European economies, participates consistently in the development of joint decisions through the International Monetary Fund. We do not rule out the option for a direct financial aid in some cases,” the Russian presidential candidate said in his program article entitled “Russia and the Changing World”, which is published in the Moskovskiye Novosti newspaper on February 27.
However, “financial injections can solve the problem only partially,” the premier noted.
“Vigorous systemic measures are needed for the full settlement of the situation,” Putin noted. “European leaders are facing the task to carry out large-scale reforms, which will change drastically many financial and economic mechanisms and ensure a true budget discipline,” he said.
“We are interested in a strong European Union, as, for instance, Germany and France see it, we are interested in the realization of a strong potential of Russian-EU partnership,” the prime minister pointed out.
“Financial and economic troubles in Europe, which is the former oasis of stability and order, are taken acutely amid the economic growth of China, India and other new economies,” Putin remarked.
The premier also noted that “the crisis that hit the euro zone cannot but affect Russia’s interests, primarily, because the EU is our largest foreign economic and trade partner.”