State Duma wants new strategic partnership deal between Russia, Ukraine

13:19 29.11.2013
Russia

The Russian State Duma is ready to develop a new Russian-Ukrainian agreement on strategic partnership, Chairman of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Leonid Slutsky told Ukrinform on Thursday.

"The State Duma expresses support for the constructive forces in Ukraine. We are ready, first and foremost, within the parliamentary framework to provide an expert advice in assessing the consequences of a possible European integration, and discuss and prepare a new Russian-Ukrainian strategic partnership agreement, which Viktor Yanukovych has stated about," Slutsky emphasized.

According to him, the preparation for the Eastern Partnership Summit on November 28-29 was held under the "unprecedented high pressure from the West on Ukraine". In particular, Slutsky noted the publication on the website of the White House of a petition calling for the U.S. to impose sanctions against the leadership of Ukraine after the decision to suspend preparations for signing the Association Agreement with the EU.

"Such a violent reaction to the decision of the President of Ukraine indicates that the processes of the so-called Eastern Partnership are nothing but a superstructure against, as former U.S. Secretary of State Clinton said, "re-Sovietization", that is, within the meaning of Washington, the project of the Eurasian integration," he said.

The Russian parliamentarian believes European or Eurasian integration is a sovereign right of Kyiv. Slutsky added that the Eurasian and European vectors do not contradict each other. He cited the example of Armenia, which, according to him, does not waive European cooperation but chooses membership of the Customs Union.

Adapted from Ukrinform

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