"The recognition of independence is a serious step towards normalisation of the situation in the Republic, towards resolving, above all, the issues of security and restoring the social and economic infrastructure."

"We must analyse the past - he who does not know the past has no future, as is known - but we must proceed from realities. Today we have no ideological contradictions, like in the Cold War; there is no basis for a cold war."

The meeting was devoted to measures to transfer custom clearance to the external Russian borders.

“Russia’s stance in the energy sphere is absolutely open,” the Deputy Prime Minister said. “It is based on the principles of predictability, responsibility, mutual trust, and respect for the interests of producers, consumers, and transit countries… To this end, we are prepared to continue dialogue with all partner countries and, of course, leading international associations such as OPEC.”

In his speech Mr Shuvalov also touched upon the question of quotas for skilled foreign labour. In his opinion, “we should consider the practicability of keeping in place quotas for highly skilled migrants in Siberia and the Far East.“

"We will have to ensure the indexation of pensions at the beginning of the year and in the second half of the year. If we make these decisions in the second half of the year the rise will be already considerable and we should make sure that the Pension Fund has the money. You have to be in contact with the Finance Ministry and other agencies."

The macro-economic environment and the disinflation in Russia were discussed at the meeting.