EU, Russia need frank discussion of European, Eurasian integration – Ushakov

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) – There has been no progress in the forming of the four common spaces of cooperation between Russia and the European and the two sides should discuss how to match the European and Eurasian integration processes, officials in Moscow said.

“We believe there is a great need for a frank, substantial conversation, including on the joint vision of Russia-EU relations. We are convinced that our cooperation potential is far from being fully used, there are significant reserves,” Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said at a briefing in Moscow ahead of the Russia-EU summit.

“But regrettably, so far we have failed to achieve any progress in the forming of the four common spaces of cooperation: economic, freedom and security, external security, and science and education,” he added.

There has been “very little progress” in this area, he said.

“We should frankly and substantively discuss this massive, long-term task, the matching of two integration processes, the European and Eurasian ones,” Ushakov said.