Vladimir Putin Proposes Redressing Imbalance In Russian-Polish Trade

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed redressing the imbalance in trade between Russia and Poland. At Kremlin negotiations with Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller, the president said that Russia is Poland's third largest trade partner, yet their bilateral trade is marked by large imbalance, and the share of fuel in it is very high. "It should not be reduced, yet trade should be diversified," Putin said. The president praised the work of the Russian-Polish intergovernmental commission. "We have many plans, and we hope for headway in our cooperation," he said. "Today we plan to sign a Russian-Polish economic declaration," Putin said. "This emphasises your Cabinet's wish to develop relations between Russia and Poland," the president told the Polish prime minister. Putin pointed out that Russia attaches "great significance" to this declaration. The Polish prime minister said he was glad to meet with Vladimir Putin and added that his visit emphasises the importance attached to the development of good-neighbourly relations with Russia. "Progress made in bilateral relations over the last few months is obvious, yet there is much to be done in economic and political fields," Miller said. He described relations with Russia as one of Poland's foreign policy priorities. Miller conveyed to Vladimir Putin "good wishes" from President Aleksander Kwasniewski and said that "we are ready for the Russian president's visit to Poland and pin much hope on it." The Russian delegation to the negotiations includes Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, deputy Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Prikhodko, and Gazprom president Alexei Miller.