links to many of our common neighbors these links will not be put at risk but on the contrary stimulated by more and more dynamic and successful economic development in the partner countries. if human dechen be different interpretations and misunderstandings on the s.o.c. ation agreements and that's why we both agreed to push you bilateral consultations at expert level on the eastern partnership s association agreements and the economy consequences on both sites. as a concrete and telling example of the huge potential for all i would repeat what i said last saturday was so in one nine hundred ninety to prosperity levels where the same in potent and ukraine and today poland least three times more prosperous than

ukraine and here i am only talking of economic dimension. as association agreements including free trade agreements between european union and partners like moldova georgia or ukraine or forty compatible with russia's existing trait arrangements we he's countries to trade agreements can't interact constructively with the customs union as long as w t o rules are applied and free decision making is guaranteed and we expect that is sessions with moldova and georgia have made vinnie use would be confirmed with a signature of these agreements by early alton at the latest european union is closely following the developments in ukraine and strongly condemns firelands we call for restraint and those responsible have to be held to account we want a fundamental freedoms such as the freedom of expression and assembly preserved.

the present stalemate must be rapidly overcome through a genuine dialogue between the authorities the opposition and civil society ukrainian authorities have a special responsibility in these it is crucial to find a way forward they need to rest of ukraine and people are hired to present at the food would be traveling to kiev in a few hours for our part we already to move ahead and to sign and implementing our association agreement already initial to a year ago provided you go toward these confirm their adherence to a democratic you create. the respects for self countries freedom of choice on foreign policy regional economic cooperation and trade is a fundamental right and the principle i stressed whence again. our cooperation with russia on global questions spans a wide range we work together effectively on issues like afghani style the middle east peace process and the piracy of the horn of africa we are willing to deep

inside i think in this cooperation to our mutual benefits and the latest very significant developments regarding syria and iran offer new possibilities to further develop our joint action another common challenge international terrorism we have today adopted the joint statement on combating terrorism in eight we return rate all firm commitment to cooperate in addressing the set of terrorism based on the respect of the rule of law and human rights more broadly speaking clear reliable understanding on fundamental freedoms human rights and the rule of law would help of vons further a strategic partnership watership and setting cannot economic tice it will contribute greatly to the fillip and over the libel stable business environment and investment climate finally i thank president putin for the open and frank exchange . we have had on all these issues i trust that the european union and russia will

continue working on these bases during the coming months and that we will be able to register further progress you know relations on the occasion of our next summit in june in sochi at that time we hope that sufficient progress to relaunch negotiations on the new agreement will be ready new will be meant covering all aspects of all cooperation and finally i expressed my best wishes for a successful winter olympics in sochi thank you thank you i would give the floor to the president of the european commission because even the world thank you. after knowledge and gentleman this summit with president putin was an important opportunity to reflect on the nature and the direction of our strategic partnership . has dust oh you have one set. match and happiness has

come into the world because of bewilderment and sinks left unsaid. it wasn't the despair it's. off saying things that sometimes we don't say. there to be have approached these meeting that was held in the spirits of frankness and openness and i believe it was helpful to clarify some issues. our relationship and our common interests are too important. to not address our differences we need each other to ensure stability and prosperity throughout our shared continent and to produce solar she solutions to the many challenges we face together. to do this we need middle understanding and serotonergic trust. we are of course not starting from scratch we are working extensively together

within our partnership formalisation in science for instance. through our joint working to g twenty and g eight for example we have supported the russian sherman ships on many international issues like the fight against terrorism as addressing the joint declaration we adopted today on combating terrorism once again let me firmly condemn the recent barbaric ethics involved graph which deserves our strong and firm condemnation. to move forward you know relationship we need to address some outstanding issues in which sometimes we have differences and we also address some of these differences during our talks today. u.p.d. is actively supported russia's accession to the kyoto but since then a number of measures that we believe are trade restrictive were introduced that. if

you leave this struck our economic relationship and we also need to find a definitely solution for long standing pending issues such as the siberian overflights the rule of law and for the mental freedoms of course are critically important also in our relationship. and the way to reinforce our trust is to work jointly in one of our most important strategic and shared objectives to create a carbon economic space from lisbon to vladivostok it may seem a dream. but dreams can become reality. to achieve this we should build on the principles of respect for solving decisions you know graphic societies and open markets the integration of our continent will not be achieved overnight he needs to go step by step and european union's eastern partnership skee to achieve this strategic objective. the partnership is about

extending and anchoring stability rule of law investment opportunities and grows beyond u.p.a. and union borders the partnership is not against someone it is for something it is about making the countries in our neighborhood more prosperous and giving their citizens better living conditions this is something that can only benefit our other partners and signal it will not harm russia. that's why today also we have agreed that you should pursue by littrell consultations at expert level on the eastern partnership association agreements and their possible economic consequences for both sides. our eastern partners should be free to decide their own path be there for a look forward to sign this is an agreement with moldova and georgia later india.

we naturally as also discuss ukraine. we express deep concern about escalation of violence casualties and reports of missing persons and violence against protesters and journalists. use of force is not the answer to the political situation guilfoyle it is need to engage in the sears eye level dialogue to position civil society and to repeal the laws approved by the rather restricting civic freedoms. i called present junk of which last week to pass these clear messages commission a fuller has traveled twice to the country in the last five days and how representative cathy ashton he's travelling to care for today. i think it is both in your opinion and russian interest to contribute to the stipulation of the situation based on the rule of law and respect of human rights no one stands to gain from absence of law order and freedom in this context i want to take

note of today's decision by the father to repeal the sixteen of general laws restricting fundamental freedoms he's confirmed this together with your doctrine of amnesty law will be important steps to deescalate the situation and to facilitate further steps through political dialogue towards a political solution for the crisis we have been very clear condemning violence in ukraine. to conclude on our summit i think we need to change the perception that one regions gain is another region's pain we need opinion out against the mentality of block against block we believe you putin and russia have all to gain from a corporate cooperative attitude we should work on how to move our partnership from a partnership of choice of neat into a partnership of choice through

a new agreement. we expect if the conditions are properly prepared to launch this new agreement negotiations in our next summit in saucy engine discussions will continue in this respect between the two sides so i believe this summit was as useful as it was necessary and i hope that we can achieve progress in the near future in fact i'm very much looking forward our next meeting in subject beginning of june thank you for your attention thank you i will open the floor to the president of russia vladimir putin. because there was rain with them i just. to go with national unity is commit but new to me because dammit but actually student of billowy which is not pretty constructive in the atmosphere there that us . stuff but curious but i'm not saying that the bill is mean you're not previously

upstate to be sure there was some sense that you were a sheet in the letter but your lunch or good year experience among the whisky food was used to. eat just a few of them up because he loved the ash too much you might not. do that when you buy your skin you are absolutely certain. that that your natural really might be stiff don't you see it because he was as then you know make a name even when you don't know i got them dishes or both because of the money can you give me or to someone to do what you feel like you have referred to probably onto the pacific ocean let me also have the size of that almost half of russia's foreign you know trades in ace with the e.u. moreover i would like to draw attention to the fact that despite some of the unfavorable international economic environment our mutual turnover continues to grow less here it grew by at least one point seven percent the year before we

reached a record on four hundred ten billion dollars in our trade i expected that one some of the statistics are wrong for twenty thirty and the record will be broken as you know russia is the leading supply of energy and resources than i would guess the masses who want one now all the while the twenty seven percent of european consumption we have close investment ties more than a sixty percent of russia's foreign investment in european countries our company has invested approximately eighty billion us dollars into businesses in the queue in turn european companies are the leading investors in the russian economy and their investment amounts to two hundred eight billion a. that the european business is a present in virtually all russian industry it is colluding at such projects as the north stream and the south stream as part of the overall european average infrastructure developed in european knowledge and equipment is

a base him the contributor to madonna's ation of russia's mechanical engineering industries some those such as airplane building high speed rail train production automotive industry including reno and b.m.w. own cultural machinery i'm including fia it is it would sit or hour i'm the scientific and technological operation is also improving and with the current year was declared to be the year of science and russia including an agenda of some two hundred events of the system a very wide ranging. cooperative effort but we need simply to aspire to your goals including him and overall european eurasian a process of integration i'm confident that the recent contradiction between the european integrated effort and the eurasian integration in fact. the phone they should have provided by the w t o norms and rules and stay aspired to the same

goals in fact they could contribute to each other's growth i'm including through trade it was in this context them that we had a frank exchange of views of with all colleagues on the issues related to the eastern partnership it is in our interest i'm to see okama neighbors prosper and develop them and this countries have indeed been trying to actively compromise with the european you han while also pretty fruit is of the historic and it ties with russia and we should certainly help them in those us peroration so but we him may not afford to have new dividing lines in europe and we should continue to work together building a unified and then we have also a look at the end of prospects and of forming into relations between the human and civil and the customs union now that is currently being developed by russia and belarus and kazakhstan naturally there were many aspects we could have looked at

and some of the objections were expected and there are a lot of outstanding issues that o. experts need to look at first but i think oh we should start addressing those issues no we have also you agreed to provide expert level dialo oakum including up such issues and as of the future and new agreements and i saw that it could be finalized by the next summit i don't know if it's feasible on nots but it's certainly in russia's interests and a we have. forward our proposal some in this respect and the only thing to emphasize is that those issues that have been contentious so far can certainly be successfully addressed and dealt with at the expert level naturally or there are some outstanding problems that we have also discussed them such as the certain. legislative acts and adopted in the european

union recently and i hear oh not to revisit the issue of the third energy of a package. today here in the you often mill where the opposition and we did briefly address this issue but the point i'm making a is that given our common interest in promoting i'll cover a ship and manager will certainly be able to finance a job except it also should have also looked at issues all security cooperation including such joint efforts i'm as competent terrorists a month and it's a cute let me take this opportunity to thank our european colleagues soon. for our bilateral efforts to conduct the sochi winter olympics. in a safe and secure environment so we have a a security impact quarters set up for the olympics where many representatives of

different european nations are present almost as good as the. partners so we have also looked at issues of iran and syria the most important thing is that the it in geneva two talks and have started to. do a two hour joint soon. for me and underscore joint efforts and we are obviously cooking the isn't over how much of our european partners have contributed to this sudden also pertains to them to. certain accomplishments that have them. been reached so far in the iranian negotiating process. there are a lot of things to be accomplished on that truck too but we have agreed to to continue pursuing it further including him at the expert level. such as ministers performing affairs some who also look at the issue of of good has done including in

light of the pending international forces withdrawal. i am confident that all of our discussions have been a substantive and useful and they have opened up to specific goals you know a joint efforts. to. change our agreement. to pursue consultations on the issue of the eastern partnership and. firstly we have agreed with our european partners that this would be extremely useful because many of the things we have been confronted with including a through a mess of media understood by. at the russian side and by the use side differently saw the reason urgent need for us to check our watches and so to speak in other words to bring out experts together to a review of the existing misunderstandings sim and identify

a common understandings their role for including in terms of potential impact on our economy is that we have agreed to conduct in the next summit on the third of june immediately before the next in the g eight in the summit in sochi thank you for the tension for a few questions. please state your name in the media you represent the before addressing your question thank you. for. the good of the name laurence newman from the wall street journal first question for president putin fest does the fifteen. billion dollar loan deal that you personally signed with ukraine in december. but i'll start again does the fifteen billion dollar loan deal that you personally signed with ukraine in december remain on offer even if the new government in kiev is dominated by the opposition or if you crane says it wants to revive the

association agreement with the u. and if not how is that consistent with russia's often repeated promise to respect ukraine's sovereignty. and for the european presidents the ukrainian opposition is calling for early presidential elections now that the ukrainian government has been dismissed are you prepared to back that cool is the is the appropriate next step for ukraine and does the have any new assistance it can make available to ukraine if it helps to pursue an association accord. and should be first of all the russia has all was. respect it is respecting and a will respect. the sovereign rights of all international and. including

new states that emerge after the breakdown of the m soviet union as well as any other nation anywhere in the world any decision in terms of cost benefits for any nation should be made by the nation in question through the recording procedures. as to the issue of ukraine's signing of the association agreement with the euro but the concern here is not the sovereign. choice of the ukraine but the economic impact of that some agreements and we had a detailed discussion without colleagues and today having existence in the free trade zone that ukraine is in right now in fact the zone of was originally promoted by the ukraine. but would most likely fail to preserve the current

preferential regime for the ukraine if it signs of the association agreement so that's something that it pertains directly to us another concern is a large unit assembly i'm including in the automotive industry and our reading of the treaty of the agreement text of was that the such products of would qualify as ukrainian products we've had long arguments and with our european called legs on such issues as how russia should develop its automotive industry i'm specifically in that during i would solution process of the deal with the whole and what level of modernization should be reached and in this industry and this is looks like a back door effort to infiltrate our automotive markets and other concerns such as technical regulations or fetus sen i am that rules and standards a these are issues of over practical importance for own national economy and

we have agreed with all colleagues some of them that would take through these issues up at the expert level to address and clarify them as some to already and as to provide assistance to the ukraine let me read to rates of that both the loan that has been mentioned or any sort of a reduction in. specifically guess prices whether on a monthly or a quarterly basis. based i'm not on our desire to support any particular government in the ukraine but. to support the people of the ukraine because it is the people the common people who suffer oh when. the powers that be fights is what we want there to be as little burden for the regular citizens as possible and here are two major issues in contrast to the i.m.f.

. a we did not entirely at this particular loan to any specific terms or conditions however a we head let me use the past tense certain understanding so with prime minister from. specifically the loan would be taken not only for the current public outlays but also for structural changes. i guess know all that he had to resign or you could ask him himself i don't expect him to hide from s. medium we had a direct conversation with him on those issues and. in fact there was a lot of criticism in russia that all government chose to waste this money without even asking for structural reforms in the ukraine them the fact of the matter is we did have an agreement through with about structural reforms at this point some

sense and nobody knows what the next government in ukraine would be and no one could say anything about it so in the future economic strategy and however we welcome bud by our commitments and to the second issue of that is reduced in the prices on and quarter point energy sources and the third the unfortunate fact is that ukraine's debt has reached him that too bill n seven hundred mil n n. and will try to reduce some this dead by reducing prices on gas. and by different payment and ukrainian government has in fact asked for deferred payments and this is probably not the worst part of what's happening it was just this morning that i was advised to ukraine has already asking for it took for all on the amounts do this year on already reduced prices

this would be a major challenge for our economy and forgets problem because this particular revenue stream was already booked for potential investment. but the normative who becomes the next the green prime minister we intend to address those issues. but. the second part of of your question. the higher presented difficult mission of food. or are still in key if commission food is there for the second time in a few days and represent the best seventy two if these night their main objective is. to avoid. escalation of violence. and to restore as soon as possible political

stability in ukraine was to respect of course the will of the people and abiding by the democratic rules that this the objective of the of the shoot by the high representative and by a commission. for early elections presidential elections spot them until elections democratic institutions of ukraine to decide. and we respect the decisions of the parliament of ukridge of course we are not. interfering not at all in their decisions all made a nice ovoid ing fight and and providing stability in a democratic atmosphere. thank you next question. i just. echo mosque three radio station to present on ground where we

have not heard the position of the european commission with regards to the emergence of parallel authorities in ukraine the people's right as was this question discussed this could potentially lead to to a failure of ukraine and is there a part to a potential for their failure or ukraine have you discussed that this is my first question and my second question you have talks about global cooperation between the e.u. and russia but perhaps it is time to to say whether you have talked about joint initiatives with regards to ukraine because we can see that european union separately european politicians separately a giving or commendations to the opposition the offer and even demand perhaps it's time to convene geneva three in analogy with geneva two so perhaps it's time to act as a. mediator is regards to the ukrainian crisis if the ukrainian government is not

able to negotiate with the people and to mr putin did they hear correctly that russia will not initiate a revision of the gas contract and facility if in a position government comes into power that they will not revise these arrangements thank you. very simple answer we didn't discuss in detail the internal situation in ukraine and we didn't discuss the events your speaking about about what's happening inside of the cities in ukraine of course this is part of the global instability of the country and as i said most as far as we can contribute to your most to restore stability the main aim of all meeting of our summit was.