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2nd LD: Putin eyes EEU-China FTA amid regional consensus on Silk Road cooperation

Xinhua, June 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

All members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) agree to beef up cooperation with China within a Silk Road cooperation framework proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Xinhua.

The Silk Road Economic Belt is a "very well-timed and appealing" initiative that has "great potential," Putin commented in an hour-long exclusive interview here with Xinhua President Cai Mingzhao ahead of his Saturday state visit to China.

In a recent EEU meeting in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan, all the five members -- Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia -- expressed support for carrying out cooperation with China within the Belt framework, Putin recalled.

In the first phase of cooperation, the two sides can set up a free trade area, he proposed, noting that the fundamental path of world economic development and EEU-China cooperation is to promote openness.

Meanwhile, with more and more countries in the region interested in joining the ranks, "we shall try to avoid establishing a closed economic and trade bloc," he added. Endi