BRUSSELS, January 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Expert consultations on Eastern Partnership issues, of which Russia and the European Union have agreed at the Russia-EU summit, will be very useful for both sides, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday at a news conference after the summit.
“We have agreed that it would be very useful, bearing in mind that the Russian side and European colleagues have different views on many things,” he said. “That is why we want to talk them over, to learn how possible decision would influence our economic situation.”
Earlier, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy said he believed that constructive cooperation between Ukraine and the Customs Union [of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan] was possible. He said the Eastern Partnership project was useful for all, including Russia. He stressed this program was not meant to impact Russia’s ties with its neighbors but rather to promote their development.
Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks it important to launch an expert dialogue on the establishment of a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union.
Russia and the European Union have agreed to speed up work on a new basic agreement that would replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), said President Vladimir Putin.
“We have agreed to accelerate work on a new Russia-EU basic agreement,” Putin told journalists after a Russia-EU summit in Brussels.
The remaining issues regarding the text of the new deal should be agreed by the next summit, he said.