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Russia may participate in Eastern Partnership on certain conditions

01 October 2011 03:10 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russia will participate in the Eastern Partnership program of the European Union on certain conditions, the Foreign Ministry said Friday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Ministry spokesman Alexandr Lukashevich said Moscow will interact constructively with the EU and Russia’s other neighbors in case the program would create a transparent scheme that takes all parties’ interests into account.

Lukashevich said the scheme must create "a real added value" for equal cooperation in the common agenda.

"The principal task of the Eastern Partnership should be approximation of the focus countries to the political objectives, economic formats and regulations of the European Union," the spokesman said.

Lukashevich said the most difficult issues of the discussions within the EU remained the Eastern Partnership members’ accession to the EU and introduction of visa-free travels.

He said the program was created without consulting with Russia which he has called "an obvious partner," adding the two-day summit, which was currently underway in Warsaw, should not contradict the Russia-EU joint projects.

The Polish-Swedish Eastern Partnership initiative, inaugurated in 2009, is aimed to tighten cooperation between the EU and six former Soviet Union members, namely Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine.