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Russia interested in partnership with EU — premier

"We would like to have a stable, economically successful, predictable and responsible neighbor," the prime minister said

BELGRADE, October 19. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev sees no reasons why the European Union would refuse to take part in creating the greater Eurasian partnership, earlier suggested by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We want to have an opportunity to determine paths of our economic development, our trade links with Europe by ourselves, including most pressing issues such as meeting the demand for energy sources," the Russian premier told the Serbian parliament on Saturday.

"This is a far-reaching, broad concept of linking this partnership, this format with other integration bodies, such as the CIS [Commonwealth of Independent States], the SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] and ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations]. I see no reasons preventing the EU from joining this effort, all the more so because some elements of this work are already in process," he went on.

Medvedev added that Russia is interested in partnership relations with the EU.

"We would like to have a stable, economically successful, predictable and responsible neighbor," the prime minister said.

He said that Russian-EU economic cooperation stood at over $407 billion prior to the crisis in bilateral relations, but halved in the years that followed. However, according to Medvedev, it is yet to be calculated who lost more from this situation.

The Russian premier reiterated that Russia remained open for an equal dialogue with the European Union, based on mutual respect.