“We are focused on the comprehensive development of strategic cooperation with Ukraine as our closest neighbour and partner. For a variety of reasons, we simply have no grounds for reviewing our strategic priorities,” the prime minister said during the meeting.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev meets with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Azarov in Kiev
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev presented the new Russian government to the Ukrainian prime minister and expressed his hope that it “will do everything it can to develop neighbourly and strategic relations with Ukraine.”
“Ukraine has joined the list of Russia’s major trading partners, and that is absolutely normal in my view. This is Ukraine’s rightful place.”
“The conversation was direct and open and as a result we issued several instructions and made amendments to the protocol. This is all very good. We agreed that we will keep our meetings that way in the future as well. We can’t have lengthy breaks in between these meetings,” Prime Minister Medvedev said, summing up the outcome of intergovernmental talks in Kiev.
"Cases in which social facilities are at risk of closure as a result of property transfers, are completely unacceptable for us."