Ukraine is ready to hold an equitable dialogue on sensible issues with Russia, President Viktor Yushchenko told the press, following his meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in St. Petersburg on Friday.
Yushchenko stressed that "there were no ultimatums during our talks." "We stressed the need for a lively and close interstate dialogue. We expressed readiness and openness to such a dialogue," he said.
The president noted that a major part of talks concerned three questions, particularly the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine, energy cooperation between the countries and marking the 1020th anniversary of the conversion of the Kyiv Rus to Christianity.
Speaking about the stay of the Russian fleet in Ukraine, Yushchenko said that his country would execute the agreement in full. However, he said that the Constitution of Ukraine bans the deployment of any military bases in the country. "It is an imperative clause of the constitution, which does not foresee the deployment of any military bases inside the country," he said.
Commenting on energy cooperation, Yushchenko said that Medvedev had supported Ukraine's participation in talks with Central Asian states on gas supplies to the country in 2009. Moreover, Ukraine's Naftogaz has already reached agreement on such multilateral talks with Russia's Gazprom and Central Asian gas suppliers. Yushchenko said that Ukraine is interested in clear conditions for gas supplies. He said the governments and oil and gas companies, rather than politicians, should hold gas talks.
In his opinion, marking the 1020th anniversary of the Kyiv Rus christening should not only become an important event for the Orthodox Church, but also "demonstrate unity between churches, agreement, and a dialogue, even on those sensible questions of Ukrainian Orthodoxy."
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