Russia and EU agree modernisation deal at “friendly” summit

Russia and the European Union signed off on a new partnership for modernisation on Tuesday as the two sides sought to progress on economic brass tacks as the crisis in the eurozone took the bite out of previous conflicts. Dmitry Medvedev emerged from talks with the EU leadership yesterday saying the 25th EU-Russia summit in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don had taken place in a “friendly and businesslike tone”, according to a report in the Financial Times newspaper. The Russian president hailed the new modernisation agreement as allowing the two sides to pursue co-operation in high tech, innovation and energy efficiency, while Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, threw his backing behind the new pact. “We want to be Russia’s partner in modernisation,” he said. “With Russia we do not need a reset, we need a fast forward,” he said, in a reference to the US vice-president’s comments on US-Russia relations last year. The acrimony of previous summits over Russia’s relations with eastern Europe and its role as dominant energy supplier to the EU was conspicuously muted as Russia sought to present a more business-friendly face and the EU sought assurances from Moscow over the euro. Russia, according to the FT, keeps a large part of its €375.6bn in hard currency reserves in euros. In a carefully scripted press conference, Mr Medvedev responded to a staged question by praising the EU’s handling of the debt crisis and said Russia did not want to make any statements that …