Putin told how Russia treats the prospects for EU membership
“We have never been against this (joining the EU). We have always been against the military occupation of Ukrainian territory because it threatens our security. That’s what we’ve been working against. But as far as economics is concerned, for God’s sake, this is their choice,” Putin said.
The expediency of accepting Ukraine into the EU is also independently determined in the association itself, he added. “It is the sovereign decision of the country to join or not to join the economic association, and this is the business of the economic association whether to accept any member of the new state or not,” the president.
Putin also noted that Ukraine does not know whether joining the EU will give a new impetus to the growth of its economy. He added that he was interested in normalizing relations between the countries – when “the situation normalizes.”
“Ukrainian national talent, of course, and potentially great. We proceed from the fact that sooner or later the situation will normalize, and we are interested in the prosperity of all our neighbors. And inevitably, so I want it to be inevitable, inevitable restoration of relations, ”he said.
Earlier, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow would closely monitor possible events regarding the possibility of granting the status of a candidate for joining the application.
“This, of course, requires our increased attention, because we are all aware of the intensification of discussions in Europe on the subject of limiting the defense field of application – industrial, defense and security fields,” he said.
On June 17, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at a briefing in Brussels necessarya give Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership. She emphasized that in order to move forward in the unification of Ukraine, it is necessary first to carry out serious reforms and de-oligarchization of the country.
“We offer candidate status, but then it will be necessary to work on reforms,” she repeated.
About SPIEF 2022
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is an annual economic conference in Russia, which is often called “Russian Davos” in the media (by analogy with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland). The jubilee 25th SPIEF takes place on June 15–18, 2022. The main topic of the forum this year is “New World – New Opportunities”.
Leaders of states, finance ministers, foreign companies, financiers and scientists meet at the forum site. They assess the issues facing Russia and world markets. Every year the forum is visited by more than 10,000 participants from more than 140 countries of the world. Since 2005, the President of Russia has been taking part in the work.
The forum has a practical focus. Since 2010, several hundred investment agreements and memorandums worth almost $600 billion have been signed at SPIEF. Most of the contracts arrived in 2013: 102 transactions for a large amount of 9.6 trillion rubles. In 2019, the amount of the reserve amounted to 3,271 trillion rubles, in 2021 – 4,267 trillion rubles.
The organizer of the SPIEF is the Roscongress Public Foundation.