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Ukrainian, Russian presidents discuss drafting of strategic partnership agreement

On his way back from China the Ukrainian president made a stopover in Sochi

KIEV, December 7 (Itar-Tass) - The presidents of Ukraine and Russia met in the Russian southern Black Sea resort of Sochi to discuss the drafting of a strategic partnership agreement, Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov told the foreign mass media.

“On his way back from China the Ukrainian president made a stopover in Sochi, where he had a previously agreed meeting with his Russian counterpart,” the Ukrainian government’s public relations department quotes Azarov as saying. “The issue on the agenda was drafting a major strategic partnership agreement with Russia, complemented with a road map eliminating disputes over trading and economic issues.”

Ukraine and Russia are determined to fully eliminate the contradictions that have piled up in bilateral relations over the past three and a half years, including controversies over the gas supply contract and the disruption of industrial cooperation,” Azarov said. “This sort of work is now underway.”

As it was reported earlier, President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich.

“The two men discussed the current issues of bilateral Russian-Ukrainian relations, as well as preparations for a forthcoming meeting of the Russia-Ukraine inter-state commission in Moscow,” presidential press-secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

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Ukraine crisis Foreign policy

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