Russia and the European Union Wednesday emphasized their cooperation on climate change, energy supplies
and trade during a summit that was held in a positive atmosphere rarely seen in recent years.
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, called it "one of the best meetings we have had."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held a similar view concerning the meeting.
"I am very pleased by the fact that Russia-EU summit were no longer as strained as before and had acquired the quality of routine work, which is normal for this long-standing European institution, " Medvedev said.
During the meeting, Russia agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 25 percent by 2020 from the 1990 level, an improvement of 10 percent compared with its earlier commitments.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, welcomed Russia's constructive attitude toward climate change, while emphasizing that cooperation between the EU and Russia
on the topic needs to be strengthened.
Russia is very important to climate issues because it is one of the biggest greenhouse gas emitters in the world, Reinfeldt said, noting that
Moscow was expected to play a key role in getting an environmental deal done in Copenhagen next month.The two sides also stressed the need for sustained and constructive cooperation on energy supplies.
Russian gas sent to Europe via Ukraine accounts for 20 percent of Europe's supplies, which were halted for more than two weeks in January due to a quarrel between Moscow and Kiev.
The EU emphasized the importance of safe energy supplies and said that it would not establish steady energy relations with Russia until Moscow guarantees stable and transparent supplies.
Russia and the European Union on Monday signed a memorandum on an early warning mechanism that requires both sides to inform the other of any possible disruption to energy supplies and to jointly settle the problem.
The two sides also reached consensus on Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization. Both Barroso and Reinfeldt said the EU would like to see its third largest trading partner join the WTO as soon as possible.
Russian Premier Vladimir Putin, however, had announced a plan in June where his country would form a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus and tie its WTO membership application to that of the two other countries. That plan is opposed by the EU.
Russia, however, modified its proposal at the summit. Medvedev said Russia would use the shortest way possible to join the WTO and that the form of accession was less important.
"What is important for us is the speed. Whichever way is the shortest, we will use that way. If it turns out to be the way of concerted but individual accession, we will choose that way," the Itar-Tass news agency quoted Medvedev as saying.
Although the two sides strove to repair bilateral ties, the summit produced no written agreements and did not make any breakthroughs in
concluding a new partnership and cooperation deal to replace the one that expired last year.
The Russia-EU summit is held twice a year, once in Russia and once in the country holding the EU's rotating presidency. The previous summit took
place May 21-22 in Russia's Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk.