Russia Advocates the Establishment of the Greater Eurasian Partnership

Russia advocates the establishment of the Greater Eurasian Partnership with the participation of the Eurasian Economic Union, ASEAN, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, "possibly other entities". This was stated by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev at the summit in Bangkok of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, TASS reported.

The leaders of the union unanimously supported this idea in May 2016 at the ASEAN Russia-ASEAN Summit in Sochi, Medvedev noted. According to him, in the long term, the new partnership will make it possible to coordinate major integration and infrastructure projects.

Moscow accepts the premise that the partnership must be built on mutual respect and the principle of mutual benefit that it will be open to all interested parties, the Russian PM added.

Russia has already taken a step in this direction, he noted, recalling the signed memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Commission and ASEAN. The Eurasian Economic Union has concluded free trade agreements with Vietnam and Singapore, is negotiating with other countries of the Association, and the Eurasian Economic Commission has signed cooperation documents with Cambodia, Thailand and Indonesia, said Dmitry Medvedev.