Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he is confident the European Union will overcome Greece's economic crisis.
"I naturally believe our partners will overcome the difficulties; they are temporary," Putin told a press conference, which followed talks with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen.
"The EU is, without doubt, our main partner in the economic sphere ... we want everything to be normal in the eurozone, we don't want to see any crises or cataclysms," he said.
"I do not doubt that the eurozone and the EU will overcome these problems. The question is how much it will cost. But this depends on the concrete steps taken by the EU leadership."
The Russian premier described the recent controversial move by the eurozone countries, namely Germany, to ban short-selling of financial products as "reasonable."
Putin noted that the weakening of the euro had both advantages and disadvantages, as the euro's weakness created good export conditions, which is the focus of many EU countries' economies.
The 11-year old single European currency fell to its weakest level in four years last week in the wake of the Greek debt crisis. Fears remain about the future of the euro, despite a huge financial bail out package from EU governments and the International Monetary Fund.
LAPPEENRANTA (Finland), May 27 (RIA Novosti)
