Spotlight: Russia calls for broader Eurasia partnership to break isolation

The three-day annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum ended here Saturday, during which Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the establishment of a broader Eurasia partnership.

The partnership will group India, China, and countries of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Commonwealth of Independent states of the former Soviet Union, as well as other interested states and organizations, according to the Russian president.

The move is viewed as an endeavor to break up the isolation resulting from sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S.-led Western countries in the wake of the Ukraine crisis, and to enhance multilateral cooperation, especially with the European Union (EU).

FUTILE SANCTIONS

Compared with the first quarter in 2015, a remarkably lower amount of foreign investment is leaving Russia recently, Putin said at a plenary session of the forum on Friday. Moreover, Russia has abundant reserve funds, and could cut the recent inflation rate to 4 or 5 percent, which all predict Russia would regain a positive economic growth rate in a short term.

Relations between Russia and the EU soured after the latter joined the United States in imposing several rounds of sanctions on Russia over its takeover of Crimea and involvement in the Ukraine crisis since 2014.

The sanctions on Russia did bring about considerable difficulties for the country's economic growth, but they did't succeed in dragging it into collapse.

MUTUAL BENEFITS

"We bear no grudge, and we are ready to meet our European partners halfway," Putin said at a plenary session of the forum on Friday.

Analysts say that Moscow has sent a clear message to the EU to put aside their differences and join hands in strengthening multilateral cooperation.

Russia is the EU's third-largest trading partner, while the EU is Russia's largest trading partner. Due to the mutual sanctions imposed on each other between Russia and the EU, their trade volume has witnessed a sharp drop of 37 percent in the past two years.

The EU countries are not unanimous on the sanction issue. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at the forum that the relationship between the EU and Russia should not be manoeuvred by the United States, while the sanctions between Russia and the EU should be removed.

In fact, many European companies whose business has been hampered because of the sanctions are anxious to normalize their economic and trade ties with Moscow, which the latter also echoed.

Putin noted in his speech that profound changes have taken place in the means of global economic development, as a fast-developing high-tech innovation is injecting new blood into the the global economic growth, which renders isolation and blockade inadvisable. Instead, he suggests that the relevant sides step up cooperation within a flexible integrated framework.

BRIGHT FUTURE

Russia has long been brewing the promotion of integration between the European and Asian economies. As early as in the year of 2010, Putin put forth the idea of the "New European Economic System," which suggested building up a harmonious economic community across the European continent from Portugal's Lisbon to Russia's Vladivostok.

Later, Russia focused its efforts on constructing the Eurasian Economic Union, a bloc which groups Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan with a total population of 170 million. Analysts said that the Eurasian Economic Union has laid a foundation for the implementation of the broader Eurasia partnership.

"This project is undoubtedly open to Europe. And I believe such interaction can be mutually beneficial," Putin said.

He noted that one of the first steps for implementing this project would be the official start of negotiations on creating a comprehensive trade and economic partnership in Eurasia between the Eurasian Economic Union and China.

In that sense, China and Russia have reached consensus on cooperation in promoting the Eurasian Economic Union and the Belt and Road initiative of China.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt that links China with Europe through Central and Western Asia by inland routes, and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road connecting China with Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe by sea routes.

With regard to Moscow's ties with the West, which has been at its lowest point ever since the end of the Cold War, Putin said global confrontation should not be the basis for the development of international relations.

According to analysts, the broader Eurasia partnership surely faces challenges, but as long as everyone embraces an open and inclusive posture and discard the "zero-sum" mentality, there certainly exists the possibility for it to evolve into a cooperative platform for mutual benefits in all aspects. Endi