MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is interested in political stability, territorial integrity and economic development of Ukraine and will mount partner relations with it, Andrei Kokoshin, chairman of the State Duma committee for CIS affairs and ties with compatriots, said on Friday.
"Russia proceeds from full acknowledgement of sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Ukraine and is interested in political stability and a high pace of economic growth in the friendly neighboring state. This provides for large-scale involvement of the two countries in the agreement on the Unified Economic Space and non-involvement of Ukraine in any military-political blocs," Kokoshin told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Joint and synchronized movement towards Europe and coordination of WTO admission efforts are in the interests of Russia and Ukraine. We must take account of the fact that international investors' trust in Ukraine hardly increased, to put it mildly, after all election collisions, regardless of optimistic assessments of many Western politicians," the lawmaker said.
Development of true partner relations between Russia and Ukraine after the recent elections is only possible if both nations take each other's interests into account and develop a special nature of relations between the two brotherly people that have many centuries of joint history, Kokoshin said. "As to problems, they naturally include the status of the Russian language, especially in eastern and southern Ukrainian regions, where a large number of Russians and Russian-speaking people are residing," he stressed.