В.Путин.Пресс-конференция с В.Ющенко.11.01.06.Part 1

Описание: Press Conference Following Talks with President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko.Part 1
January 11, 2006
Astana

Пресс-конференция по итогам встречи с Президентом Украины Виктором Ющенко
11 января 2006 года
Астана

PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO: Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin], dear journalists, first of all I would like to say that I am firmly convinced that Ukraine and Russia are now in the process of forming a new quality of relations that will give both countries the chance to find acceptable, timely and correct responses to the most complex questions. I am convinced that the relations between our countries are becoming more transparent and mutually beneficial.

I would like to comment on the solutions reached regarding the gas issue. I am convinced that following the quite dramatic events that have taken place both sides have been able to reach a mutually acceptable solution that meets with the agreement of both Ukraine and Russia. It was not an easy process to reach this solution and it required a good number of compromises on both sides. But now that we have settled this issue I can say in all certainty that we have left feudal relations behind and have removed all suspicions from each other that Russia is selling gas to Ukraine at half the real price and that Ukraine is transporting this gas at half the real price. The same goes for a number of other issues, including humanitarian issues that arose in connection with the gas supply and sale issue.

I would like to thank sincerely the participants in the settlement process, and to thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for the political dialogue that you supported throughout this process.

Our meeting today dealt with a number of issues among which I would like to name the following. We reached an agreement that a trade and economic committee headed by our Prime Ministers would begin work in the first quarter. A special meeting will be held for this purpose. We agreed on the start of work of a joint commission on demarcating the land border between Russia and Ukraine. This is a very important agreement. We have proposed that the bilateral commission step up negotiations on delimiting the Kerch Strait during the first half of the year and on preparing for signature an agreement on the Russian-Ukrainian state border in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. This is an area where we see a need to make serious progress and reach an optimum solution. We also discussed the issue of the Russian Black Sea Fleets presence on Ukrainian territory in Sevastopol.

We agreed that the committee would meet this month or next month and begin work on this whole package of issues that still have to be resolved, or rather, that have been settled through agreements that now remain to be implemented in practice. We can say today that we are now close to signing an agreement on readmission, something we have been working towards for several months. This is a very important agreement both for Ukraine and for Russia.

We noted today that both sides are ready to sign an agreement between the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers and the Government of the Russian Federation on procedures for crossing the Ukrainian-Russian state border for residents of the border districts in both countries.

We also discussed cooperation in the nuclear energy sector and issued the relevant instructions to our energy ministers and organisations that are responsible for programmes to carry out uranium mining and enrichment projects and ensure nuclear fuel supplies to electric power stations. This is an important project, quite a complex project, but we have begun serious work on it today. We hope that over the coming 3-4 months we will be able to present updated documents setting out the proposals for developing our joint cooperation in this area.