MOSCOW (TASS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a joint statement Friday on cooperation on the construction of the joint Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and Silk Road projects.
The document has been approved by the leaders of the two countries on the basis of bilateral talks held in the Kremlin.
Vladimir Putin said the integration of the post-Soviet trade bloc and China’s Silk Road project opens the way for building a common economic space in Eurasia.
“The integration of the EEU and Silk Road projects means reaching a new level of partnership and actually implies a common economic space on the continent,” Putin said
Putin said the Chinese leader and he had paid special attention to this issue at their talks in Moscow.
“The EEU and Silk Road projects can harmoniously supplement each other,” the Russian president said.
The Treaty on establishing the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) was signed by the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on May 29, 2014 in Astana. The EEU, which came into effect on January 1, 2015, currently comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia.
Earlier, Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that this accord will be fundamental to the cooperation on many projects like the Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway. He noted that “the bilateral joint statement was signed by the heads of state, on cooperation in combining the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union and the economic belt” Silk Road.”
“The Chinese Silk Road is an impressive project, of economic, geopolitical and other value,” Peskov said. “It’s a very interesting, new, strategic substance of our bilateral relations,” he added, and went on to say that the Valdai Discussion club has been studying this project for a long time.
Peskov confirmed that after Friday’s talks, the Russian President and the Chinese President, who arrived in Moscow on an official visit, are planning to sign “quite an impressive package of documents signed in the presence of leaders or by the leaders themselves during the visit or on its sidelines.”
