Azerbaijan, Baku, May 21 / Trend , E.Ostapenko/
A constructive political dialogue should remain the basis for relations between the European Union and Russia, as they cannot exist independently, the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said.
"Russia and the EU are interdependent. Regular and fair political dialogue is a true way to rational use of our relations, and this should prevail ever, regardless of complexity of issues," Barroso said.
The two-day summit Russia - EU begins today in the Far East city of Russia - Khabarovsk. The main topics of the forum will be energy, European security and countering global financial and economic crisis. In particular, one of the issues is the introduction of visa-free regime between Russia and the European Union.
The global financial and economic crisis stresses the need to develop the potential of our relationship, remove obstacles and coordinate our efforts, Barroso said.
For the first time the summit will take place so far from the Old World. The previous summit was took place in Khanti-Mansiysk.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the trip through nine time zones would give to European partners the possibility to feel the greatness of Russia, the First Channel reported.
EU delegation is headed by Czech President Vaclav Klaus, whose country currently is the chairman of the EU, European Commission head Barroso and EU representative for foreign and security policy Javier Solana.
An informal meeting of the EU delegation with President of Russia Medvedev was scheduled for Thursday. All official arrangements will take place on Friday, the First Channel said.
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