Vol. 476 No. 5
46 Mr. Leonard asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will outline to Dáil Éireann the outcome of the EU and Russian summit in Moscow on Monday, 3 March 1997; and the content of the several messages which the EU Commission stated it intended to give the Russian delegation. [7460/97]
Participants at the recent EU-Russia summit meeting in Moscow included the Netherlands Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, as Presidents-in-office of the European Council and Council of Ministers respectively; Commission President Santer and Commissioner Van den Broek. The Russian delegation was led by President Yeltsin, Prime Minister Chernomyrdin, First Deputy Prime Minister Davidof and Foreign Minister Primakov.
The summit meeting facilitated a constructive and wide-ranging exhange of views between the two sides on EU-Russian relations, including economic and trade relations, as well as on Russia's relations with neighbouring states and security issues. The meeting provided a valuable opportunity to the EU side to express support for Russia's ongoing programme of economic and democratic reforms; to underline the importance it attaches to the early entry into force of the partnership and co-operation agrement and to express support for Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation.
In the course of discussions, the two sides looked forward to the early entry into force of the EU-Russian partnership and co-operation agreement and reviewed the current state of bilateral trade relations between them including in the steel and textile sectors. Discussions also focused on the prospects for Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation. In this connection agreement was reached on the need to identify and overcome the obstacles still standing in the way of achieving this important objective. The operation of the TACIS programme and EU-Russian financial co-operation also arose in the discussions. Among the political issues discussed was the situation in Belarus following the constitutional referendum. President Yeltsin also spoke about relations with Ukraine, including the issue of the Black Sea Fleet and its home port of Sevastopol, and said that productive talks on the matter were being held with the Ukrainian authorities. Developments relating to the European Security Architecture also featured in the discussions.
