The development of the relations with former Soviet republics is one of the top priorities of the Russian Federation, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced during a hotline today.
The level of cooperation of commercial production between Russia and other republics of the former USSR is so high that if it is damaged it can bring about suspension of production, the president said. Besides, there is a high mutual dependence in the agriculture, defense, friendly and family contacts of the citizens. In Ukraine, Putin reminded, up to 17,000,000 ethnic Russians live, and 4,000,000 Ukrainians live in Russia.
The development of the relations between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian president believes, must be grounded on the current pragmatic basis. Moreover, the energy carriers must be delivered on the market basis. Putin reminded that Russia subsidized the Ukrainian economy at the expense of the lowered prices for energy carriers within recent years in amount of $3-5bn. Meanwhile, the president noted, “we intend to switch to the market relations smoothly, calmly, in a friendly regime.”
No matter what government is formed in Ukraine, the objective reality will push our partners towards cooperation with Russia.
http://www.regnum.ru/ |
