25 April 2002 00:00
PRIME MINISTER MIKHAIL KASYANOV MEETS WITH EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT PRESIDENT PATRICK COX
A meeting has taken place in Brussels between Mikhail Kasyanov and Patrick Cox, the President of the European Parliament. Discussions covered, inter alia, the Middle East situation and possible joint efforts by Russia and the European Union for its resolution.
As well, there were considered questions of expansion of Russia-EU cooperation, including prospects for a common economic space and closer security ties, Kasyanov said. The Chairman of the Russian Government said he thought it extremely important to "maintain a continual open dialogue on all issues," and in this connection emphasized that Russia was ready to discuss with the European Union the problem of Chechnya. He wished, however, that information on the situation in Chechnya would be fuller and more detailed.
Noting greater Moscow-Brussels cooperation as a foreign policy priority of Russia, Kasyanov expressed hope that in the future Russia and the EU would manage to systematize meetings at the level of parliaments and governments. He also stressed that the summit between Russia and the European Union to be held in Moscow on May 29 was bound to mark an important stage for cooperation between the sides.
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