In Vienna, the president held several meetings, mainly with businessmen.
Speaking at the Russian-Austrian business forum, he recalled the principles of good neighbourly relations and the need to build up mutual confidence in cooperation.
But he was addressing not so much Austrians, relations with whom are developing quite well, as Europe as a whole. Unfortunately, there is a big tangle of problems and misunderstandings in Russian-European relations now.
Putin used figures and facts to explain the situation in the country and to prove that “the Russian market is now more dynamic and promising than many other markets.” Proof of that can be seen in the visit’s results: Russian businessmen who accompanied the president to Austria signed contracts worth €3bn.
On the same day, the biggest storage facility of Russian gas with a capacity of 2.4bn cu m was opened in Salzburg.
The short visit to Luxembourg (which lasted less than a day) became a vivid example of successful, large-scale and mutually beneficial cooperation between a great and a small country.
By focusing the audience’s attention on that fact during a meeting with journalists, Putin also wanted to show Europe that there is a real possibility of building benevolent and equal relations with Russia. He said the two countries’ trade grew by 250% in three years and Luxembourg became the second-largest investor in Russia.
New contracts were signed during that short visit. Gazprom agreed with Luxembourg’s Soteg to build a power Russian gas. Investment in the project will total €400mn, with each party providing 50% of the sum.
Summing up the results of his talks in Luxembourg, Putin pointed to a mutual intention to continue promoting cooperation in the economy, the financial sector, science, education, cultural exchanges, and sports.
When asked about relations with Europe on the whole, and if there are any problems by an FC Novosti correspondent, the Russian president said that of course there were problems, and that complicated issues arose from time to time.
He named two key reasons for problems in Russian-European relations. One of them is expanded cooperation with the EU member states in all areas, which often creates problems that have never been encountered before. The other reason is the EU’s enlargement. “Unfortunately, some of the new member states are trying to present their bilateral problems with Russia as issues for the EU as a whole,” Putin said.
However, there is no need to dramatise the situation, he said, adding that all cooperation issues should be resolved peacefully and in a businesslike manner.
The most important thing is that both parties should play by the same rules, he said.
Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker actually supported this approach to problems and the prospect of their resolution when he said, “We should never try to separate Europe from Russia and Russia from Europe. We want to have the friendliest relations with Russia.” During that trip to these two countries, Putin held numerous meetings, made public speeches, took part in discussions, and calmly explained current issues. Notably, he tried to explain why the West criticised Russia so often.
One of the reasons, he said, is a desire to make Russia pliant in order to put pressure on it.
He immediately explained why this would never happen. Russia is not what it was seven years ago and its achievements, increasing capability, and accelerating economic growth pace are catching up with, or even outrunning, some Western countries, Putin said
