Izvestia: “Russian, Ukrainian presidents to build new relations”
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Azarov in Moscow for the first time yesterday. From the start, Azarov said his goal was to build Russian-Ukrainian relations from scratch for many years to come. However, Putin refused to revise the gas agreements during the meeting.
The visit wasn't planned in advance. On Tuesday, Putin called Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. They discussed specific issues on which agreements may be signed during President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Ukraine. In addition, they agreed on an unscheduled meeting between the prime ministers.
"You accepted the invitation and came to Moscow," Putin said, welcoming his vis-a-vis to his Novo-Ogaryovo residence. "This is a good sign."
Putin explained why Russia-Ukraine relations went awry, and said the end result was a decline in trade. However, he believes the time is now ripe not only for retrieving what was lost, but also for upping the ante.
"This won't be easy, but it's possible," he said. "Of course, we will have to make certain efforts."
Putin said the two countries should concentrate mainly on the power economy, industry and aircraft building. He invited the Ukrainians to cooperate in high technology – space, GLONASS and aviation.
Azarov also had proposals for Russia.
"There is no doubt that one of the terms for stabilisation (in Ukraine – Izvestia) is the full restoration of ties with Russia," he said. "We will do everything to resume our cooperation and projects in full. We have also brought a number of relatively new proposals."
Putin listened attentively when Azarov spoke about future cooperation.
"We are not simply exchanging appeals, we are ready to work constructively step by step, and to develop our cooperation for years to come," Azarov said. "I believe we should forget what happened between our countries over the last five years and start from scratch."
"Excellent! Let's start from scratch," Putin agreed willingly.
Further talks took place behind closed doors, but the sides had already determined their positions by that time.
"The government is starting to elaborate numerous bilateral agreements with Russia. I'm going to Moscow to discuss them," Azarov said while still in Kiev.
His primary goal will most probably be to persuade Russia to reduce the gas price in the January 19, 2009 agreement with Ukraine. Since January 2009, the price has been calculated using a special formula, and corresponds with the gas price for Russia's European partners. No one in Russia believes the price should be reduced. The gas agreement fully suits Russia. If Moscow agrees to the revision, then it should be reimbursed for losses in other spheres.
In exchange, Ukraine has already offered to give Russia access to the management of its gas transportation system (GTS). Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Klyuyev made a statement to this effect. However, Russia has not yet agreed. The scale of sales to Ukraine has already been reduced by one-third to 34 billion cubic metres (under the agreement, this amount of gas should be paid for in any event), but Russia has "forgiven" the debt to Ukraine. Gazprom said this takes care of the concessions. Otherwise, Russia will not only gain access to Ukraine's GTS, but also have to pay billions of roubles for its repairs and upkeep.
"Of course, we discussed the prospects of cooperation in the gas sphere," Putin said after the talks. "I believe it should continue to be based on a strict compliance with all the agreements. This will make it possible to guarantee the fail-safe operation of the GTS."
Putin could have brought up the question of protecting Russian investments in Ukraine. It's no secret that Kiev revised privatisation results, and covered up local raiders' attacks with the advent of every new government.
However, there are more pleasant issues worthy of note.
Russian and Ukrainian aircraft designers have had close contacts since the Soviet era. They are working jointly on the AN-148 aircraft and the upgraded version of the world's largest AN-124 Ruslan cargo plane. Both sides would gain from enhancing this cooperation – possibly by even merging their national aircraft-building plants.
Anastasia Savinykh
