Russia Has No Intention To Build Relations With CIS Countries On Unprofitable Basis

Russia has no intention to build relations with CIS countries on an unprofitable basis, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, first deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, stated Monday. According to him, Russia actually makes "preferences and concessions" to certain states of the Commonwealth. At the same time, he stressed, this does not mean that Russia builds "unprofitable relations." According to him, Russia receives compensation, but often not in the fields it makes concessions in. Trubnikov noted that bilateral relations are Russia's priority within the CIS framework. "We do not decline cooperation in the 12 format, however, the starting point is precisely bilateral relations within the CIS framework, through which it is possible to develop multilateral cooperation, too," he explained. Speaking about the fact that different states of the Commonwealth are developing economically at different speed Trubnikov indicated that Moscow strives that other CIS members approached those rates characteristic of the Russian Federation. Russia is interested in continuing the process of establishing free trade zones also within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC), the first deputy of the Russian foreign-policy department said emphatically. Thus, talks are underway with Tajikistan, Belarus and Ukraine. According to Trubnikov, the EAEC is one of the efficient and most perspective economic communities.