EU, Russia discuss Iran, Syria

European Union and Russia Tuesday discussed their strategic partnership and touched upon global issues like Iran, Syria and Ukraine during their 32nd summit in Brussels. Speaking at a press conference after their meeting this afternoon, both Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and Russian President Vladimir Putin said they held "frank, open and constructive talks." The issues covered included cooperation in the economic and energy sectors, fight against terrorism and piracy, and EU's growing relations with Eastern European countries known as the Eastern Partnership. "Our cooperation with Russia on global questions spans a wide range. We work together effectively on issues like Afghanistan, the Middle East Peace Process and anti-piracy off the Horn of Africa," said Van Rompuy. "We are willing to deepen and strengthen this cooperation to our mutual benefit. The latest very significant developments regarding Syria and Iran offer new possibilities to further develop our joint action," he noted. He stated that the EU is closely following the developments in Ukraine and strongly condemns violence. "We call for restraint. Those responsible have to be held to account. The present stalemate must be rapidly overcome through a genuine dialogue between the authorities, the opposition and civil society," said Van Rompuy. The EU and Russia today adopted a Joint Statement on combating terrorism. "In it we reiterated our firm commitment to cooperate in addressing the threat of terrorism, based on respect of rule of law and of human rights," he said. On his part, Putin said "we also looked into issues of Iran and Syria. "The important thing is that Geneva 2 talks have started due to our joint efforts. This also pertains to the Iranian nuclear issue," he said and added that "there are lots of things to be accomplished on that track." But on Ukraine, Putin criticized the EU mediation efforts there. He stressed that Russia is not going to interfere in the internal affairs of Ukraine but asked "what would be the reaction of our European partners if in the midst of a crisis in Greece or any other (EU) country our foreign minister would come to an anti-European rally and urge people to do something." EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is traveling to Kiev tonight for talks with the government and opposition leaders. On his part, the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso told the joint press conference that the EU and Russia "have agreed to disagree on contentious issues."