Russia, Khanty-Mansiysk, 27 June / Trend corr R. Agayev/ "Russia's joining WTO will become the next stage of development of trade and economic relations between EU and Russia," Chairman of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso said at the opening of Russia-EU summit in Khanty-Mansiysk on 26 June.
The Russia-EU summit commenced with a high-level meeting which included Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev, Slovenian Prime Minister, who is currently chairing EU, Janez Janša, chairman of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barosso, as well as EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana.
According to Barosso, Russia remains the key energy resource supplier to EU countries and EU remains the consumer of the resources. High prices for these energy resources are a signal well understood by EU citizens.
"There is a real need to open new horizons for Russia-EU to cooperate in different spheres, since there is a potential," Barosso said. According to him, many urgent issues of world policy will be discussed at the summit, such as simplification of visa system between Russia and EU, settlement of Middle East crisis, Iran's nuclear dossier, etc.
Barosso said "In the epoch of globalization, we are under constant pressure. Joint efforts are required for innovations. We are ready to become partners to meet all challenges of globalization," he said.
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