Putin assures Russia does not seek to divide Europe
(Baonghean.vn) - In an interview with Austria's ORF television and radio company ahead of his official visit to the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed on June 4 that Russia wants a united European Union and does not seek to divide the bloc.
 |
| Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: TASS |
“For us, there is no goal of driving a wedge between anyone in the European Union. On the contrary, we want a united and prosperous European Union, because the European Union is our most important economic and trade partner,” Putin stressed.
According to information from the Kremlin press service, Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a working visit to Austria today (June 5). The visit will include talks with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Sebastian Kutz. The parties are expected to discuss existing issues and prospects of Russian-Austrian relations in many areas, and exchange views on global issues.
According to the plan, Mr. Putin will also meet with businessmen from the two countries to discuss trade and economic cooperation issues that benefit both sides, focusing on the 50th anniversary of the implementation of a large-scale energy project - supplying natural gas from the former Soviet Union to Europe.
Returning from the above business trip, according to information published by TASS news agency, on June 7, President Putin will answer the most interesting questions from the Russian people in the annual question and answer session of this leader. It is known that questions for the program Direct Line with Vladimir Putin have been collected since May 27. By 9:00 a.m. on June 4 (Moscow time), the organizing committee had received a total of more than 890,000 petitions through various channels, most commonly by phone with 508,500 calls to ask questions to the Russian head of state.
The upcoming event is the first Direct Line talk show with Vladimir Putin in the Russian leader's six-year presidency, and the 16th question-and-answer session since 2001. On previous occasions, Putin has answered questions from the Russian people 11 times as president and 4 times as prime minister.