Russia Shares French, German Positions Towards EU Expansion
SOCHI
(RIA Novosti). "For Russia, it would be very important to
consolidate the positions taken by France and Germany in connection
with the EU expansion from the point of view of the development
of relations with Russia and transfer them, as far as possible,
onto the site of the entire European Community," said Russia’s
president Vladimir Putin at a meeting with journalists in Sochi
(he is taking part there in the first ever Public Forum of the
peoples of the.Northern Caucasus and southern Russia. "Russia
is interested to have a powerful center in Europe, with which
it would be able to resolve problems of bilateral relations on
a firm foundation," he noted.
""The
situation today is developing in such a way that we do not have
anyone to talk to at times," Putin stressed. In his words,
the EU has a new chairman every six months, and then new priorities
appear, while the old ones are put aside. "It’s difficult
to work, and they do understand this," Putin added. Therefore,
in his opinion, the more stable the situation in the European
Union, the more useful this is for Russia.
"We
cannot influence this process, but we must understand what kind
of processes are under way there," Putin said. In his opinion,
this is connected with the development of integration processes
in post-Soviet Russia and its former republics.
Putin
said that he was also planning to discuss the situation concerning
the adoption of the European Union’s Constitution with the leaders
of France and Germany. He will meet with them in Moscow at the
start of April. "It will be interesting to know how the process
of the adoption of the EU Constitution is developing from the
point of view of both France and Germany. We know that this is
a difficult process, that the document is born of suffering,"
the Russian leader noted.