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www.Kremlin.Ru
President Putin's speech at a meeting with
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko
January 24, 2005
Moscow, Kremlin
PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: Dear Viktor Andreevich, dear colleagues, allow me to wish you a warm welcome to Moscow.
We are very glad that the period of quite complex internal political processes has come to an end in Ukraine. We are glad that the situation is stabilising, and that a new government has appeared. And we expect that we will gradually develop relations with Ukraine, as has been the case up until now. We said many times that we would work with any leader voted for by the Ukrainian people. I would like to confirm that.
Viktor Andreevich, this is not the first time we have met. We have known each other for a long time, and met when you were the Prime Minister of Ukraine.
As you know, Russia never works behind the scenes in the post-Soviet area, even with the opposition we do not work in contravention of the existing leadership of a country. This fully applies to Ukraine. Recently, we have done exactly what the existing Ukrainian leadership asked of us. You know this for a fact, there is no secret here – we only hope that we will develop such trusting relations with you.
We are very glad to see you and welcome you to Russia. We have a very large volume of cooperation in the trade and economic and humanitarian spheres. We have had very good growth rates in recent years. Of course, with the coming of a new leadership, many things in internal policy probably look different, and in foreign policy as well, but we very much hope that the choice that was made by the Ukrainian and Russian peoples to come closer together and to develop relations will remain unchanged, and in this sense we count on a continuity of policy.
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We were very happy about your decision to make your first foreign visit to Russia. We see in this a sign, a very good sign. What you just said, describing our relations as strategic partnership, designed for the future – this is a very pleasing, a very good sign. I must note that in previous years, when we still worked together, and you were the Prime Minister of Ukraine, trade turnover was $5.6 billion. Now it is three times higher. Last year it passed the $16 million mark.
According to our information, according to our statistics, Russia accounts for about 60% of Ukraine’s foreign trade turnover. There is a very high and profound level of integration of individual industries and companies.
We have made very serious steps towards regulating political issues. I mean above all the regulation of border issues. We have done this intentionally in recent years, made these agreements and have been through all the domestic procedures to emphasise the state sovereignty of Ukraine. All these steps were directed towards solving this task above all.
Our position is that on this basis it is possible to build new relations in the post-Soviet area in the area of integration, above all in the economic sphere. And here, of course, issues of the economy and the interests of individuals come to the fore, because be both know what it means to have free movement of capitals, free movement of people, technology and so on.
Everything that we have planned in the framework of the Common economic space essentially comes down to this series of issues. And the agreements that we plan to sign soon concern free movement of people across the state body, which we have agreed upon, and free movement of currency and improvement in the sphere of economic interaction, in order to make our economies more competitive on world markets.
We have good prospects not just in the energy sphere, which is extremely important, but in other industries as well. So I think that we will be able to discuss this in detail today. But I also expect that soon, after the formation of the Government and all instruments of power and administration, we will continue this discussion at expert level.