EU en Rusland gaan meer samenwerken op gebied van onderzoek en technologie (en)

The Russian President, Dimitry Medvedev (left), and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, speak to the media during the twenty-fifth summit between Russia and the EU, in Rostov-on-Don (Russia). EFE

The European Union and Russia have agreed to increase their co-operation in the areas of science and cutting-edge technology, during a summit that sought common ground for the next G20 meeting, but which also issued a joint statement condemning the attack on the humanitarian flotilla near Gaza.

At the final press conference, Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, stressed that the main issue of the summit, which took place on Tuesday in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, was the "strengthening of long-term strategic co-operation" on the economy, internal security and justice, external security, science and education.

"Relations with the European Union are the most important component of our foreign policy," said the Russian President at a joint press conference with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the President of the Commission, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.

He highlighted the Declaration on the Partnership for Modernisation, among the achievements of the summit, which he said will "increase co-operation between Russia and the EU in areas such as high technology and innovation".

Barroso spoke about Monday's talks at the pre-summit dinner, in which he said, "We had a very frank discussion about the economic situation in Europe".At dinner, Medvedev assured the Europeans that Russia is confident about the future of the European Monetary Union.

On the subject of the euro, Barroso said he had no doubts about its future."It is one of the most stable currencies in the world, the second globally," he said.For this reason, "it is important that we return to growth, to sustainable growth, and this should be the main task of the G20," he said.Barroso went on to say that "the EU and Russia are very close with regards to the G20 agenda ... there is convergence in our points of view".He cited the example of the agreement in calling for a "reasonable increase" in financial regulation and supervision, and measures to alleviate global macroeconomic imbalances.

The President of the European Commission expressed the EU's support for Russia's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

In the political arena, the EU and Russia agreed to advance their negotiations on visa waivers.

Van Rompuy, meanwhile, at the start of the press conference, mentioned European concerns about the safety of human rights activists and journalists in Russia, and about the "climate of impunity" in Chechnya.

Condemning the attack against the Gaza flotilla

The summit issued a joint condemnation of the attack on the Gaza flotilla.

The joint statement by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, and the EU foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, said that "the Russian Federation and the European Union regret the deaths that occurred during the Israeli military operation against the flotilla that was heading to Gaza".

In the document, Moscow and Brussels "call for an exhaustive and impartial investigation of the facts and circumstances in which they occurred" and ask for the way to be opened for humanitarian aid, goods and people to and from Gaza.

In his own statement, Van Rompuy said that it is "particularly important, even though the situation is now more tense, that the recently launched talks (between Palestinians and Israelis) continue".