The political part of the summit talks focused on fighting terrorism as the main threat to civilisation. The summit also discussed the situation in the Balkans and the Middle East.
The summit’s key event was the Joint Statement on International Terrorism, which laid the basis for coordinating Russia’s and the EU’s efforts in countering this global threat. The parties extended considerably the area of cooperation in this regard, and active and coordinated action in fighting both single militants and militant groups, including the liquidation of their international financing channels, can be expected in the near future.
Another important document was the Joint Declaration to strengthen the dialogue and cooperation on political, European security, non-proliferation and disarmament issues. It was decided that Russia and the EU would meet on a monthly basis for security consultations.
The summit also touched upon the Chechen issue. The Joint Final Statement stated that President Putin had briefed the EU leaders on the situation in Chechnya. In the course of the discussion, the EU expressed its support of Russia’s efforts to achieve a political settlement.
Priority among the economic issues on the summit’s agenda was given to the formation of the European economic space. The summit resulted in a special resolution to create a group charged with elaborating its concept. A single space should allow integration of the EU and Russian economies.
Considerable attention was paid to energy issues. The Joint Russian-European Union Statement on Energy Dialogue read that the parties had agreed to commence extended energy talks to form a solid energy partnership between Russia and the European Union. The parties also expressed a mutual interest in a number of major energy projects, in particular, the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline via Belarus and Poland, adaptation of the parties’ power lines, the North European gas pipeline, and the Shtokman field development.
After the European Union — Russia summit, President Putin attended a news conference and communicated with the media.