SOCHI, May 25 (RIA Novosti) - The signing of agreements on visa facilitation and readmission was the key result of the Russia-EU summit Thursday in Sochi, a resort on Russia's Black Sea coast.
Other items on the table included energy security and a long-running controversy around Iran's nuclear research program, as well as renewal of a partnership and cooperation agreement due to expire in 2007, but the summit seemed to produce little in the way of concrete progress.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the agreements - the result of long negotiations that will see visa issuing procedures relaxed for certain categories of citizens on both sides - as the first step toward eventual visa-free travel.
"To start with, the simplified visa issuance procedure will be available to students, journalists, businessmen, culture activists, scientists and athletes," Putin said.
"I am positive that the introduction of new simplified visa regulations will soon become an impetus for the expansion of humanitarian cooperation, as well as for the joint work and interaction of artistic and scientific intelligentsia, young people and students," he added.
He said Europe was not opposed to visa-free travel, but was concerned over security in regions of Russia in the north Caucasus. Putin said the Russian government had allocated $500 million to strengthen this sector of the country's border.
Putin also expressed the hope that Russia and the European Union could make headway in the near future on a new cooperation agreement, as the current agreement expires in 2007, and talks appear to have stalled in recent months. He said the completion of talks on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization would influence the contents of this agreement.
Russia still has to conclude bilateral WTO accession talks with the United States and Australia, and talks with the U.S. have been particularly fraught over a number of issues in recent weeks, including the financial services sector, agriculture and intellectual property.
With regard to energy issues - a touchy subject since a high-profile spat between Russia and Ukraine over the price of gas earlier this year that briefly saw Russia cut supplies - Putin said Russia expected to be treated as an equal partner, and that concessions on market access would have to be reciprocal.
"We have been developing and will continue to develop our potential in the energy sector, and will seek to realize this potential on the world market, including Europe," he said. "We will diversify our [energy] markets, and this fully coincides with our plans to alter the structure of the Russian economy and make it innovative."
"If our European partners hope that we will give them access to our energy sector... we expect reciprocal steps relating to various vectors of our development," Putin said, adding that Europe shared this understanding.
Access to markets has been a thorny issue in recent weeks, with Russian companies claiming they are being discriminated against on access to foreign markets, and foreign companies saying Russia should open up its energy industry to foreign competition.
"They have called for us to look for such solutions together, and I think we will find a solution," Putin said. He said Russia does not see China as a possible alternative market to Europe.
Russia is currently building an ambitious pipeline from East Siberia to the Pacific Ocean to supply energy resources to nations in the Asia-Pacific region, and primarily energy-hungry China.
Other international issues discussed Thursday included the Middle East and the Balkans, and further expansion of the EU, Putin said.
"We hope EU enlargement would not affect our relations," he said.
Putin said Russia and the EU shared a common position on the long-running controversy around Iran's nuclear program, which was also on the summit's agenda alongside with other key international issues.
"The Iranian problem is always in the focus of our attention, and we will keep working on this issue with our partners," Putin said.
Iran stands accused of using a nuclear research program it says is for purely civilian purposes as cover for trying to get nuclear weapons. The United States, France and Britain are pushing the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on the country, while Russia and China have called for a diplomatic solution.
A Russian delegation headed by Security Council Secretary and former foreign minister Igor Ivanov will fly to Tehran for talks May 27-28, a source said.
