Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on December 10 that Moscow is ready to build a common economic space with both Europe and the United States if every party is treated equally. “I’m sure that in a globalising world...above all in the sphere of economic development, partnership with the European Union, Russia and the United States would be in the interest of us all,” Lavrov was quoted by the press as telling a conference of the Association of European Business. “A common economic space formed from the European Union, Russia and the United States is far from being a virtual project, and it would be possible to work on that,” he told the business forum in Moscow.

He noted that Russia also welcomed French President Nicolas Sarkozy‘s initiative to create a common economic space between the EU and Russia. The minister reiterated that the idea of creating a common economic space was also eyed by Brussels and Washington. “It is important that we don’t try to consider any one pair of this trio in the prejudice of any third participant,” Lavrov added. According to him, Russia believes there is harmony in relations between the EU, Russia and the US.
Lavrov also said that despite the global economic crisis, joining the World Trade Organization remained a priority for the government and was “one of the preconditions for improving the structure of our foreign trade and GDP.”
He repeated the Kremlin’s position that Moscow would only join if it deemed the conditions satisfactory. Lavrov said WTO membership was also among the preconditions for a new cooperation agreement with the EU, negotiations for which started in earnest recently. Moscow’s ambition to join the WTO has lately been hampered by opposition from Washington after Russia’s brief war with Georgia in August. Moscow has accused the US of tacitly supporting the Georgian government’s decision to try to take back its separatist region of South Ossetia by force in August. Lavrov said that while Russian-European relations had emerged unscathed from the Georgia war, the West should not advance into former Soviet republics at Moscow’s expense.
Lavrov said his country understands that the US and Europe have legitimate interests in the region. But he said they should build ties through “legal, understandable and transparent methods,” not what he called “behind the scenes meddling,” which he said leads to crisis situations.
The Russian minister indirectly mentioned his country’s August conflict with Georgia, and repeated Russia’s opposition to US plans to deploy a missile defense system in Central Europe and NATO expansion. He said his country is counting on the future administration of Barack Obama to confirm pledges to cooperate with Russia in fighting common threats such as international terrorism and weapons proliferation.
Addressing visas, Lavrov said Moscow is ready to introduce a bilateral visa-free regime with the EU at any time. “We are ready to introduce a visa-free regime today if you like,” Lavrov said. The minister said that a visa-free regime would be more favorable for the development of all-embracing cooperation and economic ties instead of allowing dual citizenship in Russia. “I do not think that the idea of dual citizenship would be proof of Russia’s genuine devotion to developing cooperation,” Lavrov said. Speaking about the current state of relations, Lavrov said that the EU is Russia’s closest neighbor and the most important economic and political partner.
“On the whole we are satisfied with the current state of relations between Russia and the European Union,” he said.
The foreign minister also said that a new Russia-EU partnership agreement, which is still under discussion after a series of delays including after Russia’s August conflict with Georgia over South Ossetia, is very important but additional agreements are needed to embrace all sectors of cooperation.
“Obviously the new agreement, which will be a framework agreement, is not intended for the resolution of crucially important issues for business society, for instance liberalisation of trade regime, investments, travel of citizens. It is simply unreal,” Lavrov said. The new EU-Russia agreement is set to replace the 1997 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which was extended for a year when it expired in December 2007.
Russia regards the EU as its strategic partner, Lavrov said. “The EU is Russia’s nearest neighbor and partner in politics and the economy,” he said. “The quantity of our relations are transforming into the quality. Today they can be considered strategic partnership...We are satisfied with their development,” he said. Lavrov said that Russia considers its strategic partnership with the EU a base for further interaction.