"The past decades highlight for us the importance of both today's solid partnership and the continuous dialog we maintain on a host of issues, including the issues of common European security," the Russian president told the Russia-EU summit meeting in Moscow in his opening remarks.
"I am certain that today we can and should do our utmost to effectively oppose common threats, prevent outbreaks of racism, nationalism and xenophobia and fight terror," Putin said.
The Russian president also believes that adopting the plans for Russian-EU cooperation on the four common spaces (the economy; freedom and justice; foreign policy and security; research, education and culture) is to give a hefty boost to building a united Europe.
Putin said the spaces register all principal fields of cooperation between Russia and EU, ranging from the joint fight against terrorism and drug trafficking to ensuring unimpeded contacts among people.
"Our experience in drafting the 'roadmaps' has proven again that despite differences on some issues, we have been successful in achieving fruitful decisions acceptable to both parties," Putin said.
