IN FOCUS OF THE RUSSIAN PRESS

GZT.RU: EU to propose visa free travel for Russians; Gazeta.ru: Obama submits nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia to Congress; Vedomosti: Russia, Turkey to negotiate cooperation plan; Rossiiskaya Gazeta: Medvedev discusses Middle East issues in Damascus.
GZT.RU: EU to propose visa free travel for Russians
Foreign ministers of the European Union countries discussed the possibility of visa free travel between their countries and Russia at a meeting in Brussels on May 10.
The EU is ready to offer Russia a roadmap plan of introducing a visa-free regime at the EU-Russia summit in Rostov-on-Don on May 31. Although this roadmap plan is just an idea at this point, Poland has already advanced the condition that the new policy should apply to Ukraine and several other post-Soviet countries along with Russia.
The authors of the initiative explain that the roadmap will contain a list of reforms Russia will be expected to implement, especially concerning its customs and border security. The requirements will include biometric passports and information protection laws. However, the European Union is making no commitment to cancel visas immediately after Russia fulfills the requirements listed. The roadmap only says the EU should provide a diplomatic response to these steps.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was the first to mention the visa initiative in December 2009. He said the EU decision-making policies and procedures will be altered in 2010, which would enable Italy to put it forth for discussion.
In January, two more EU countries, Spain and Turkey, supported the initiative.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would discuss the issue with the Russian president and prime minister during his next visit to Moscow; Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said the objective was "to reach the horizon" of visa-free travel.
Gazeta.ru: Obama submits nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia to Congress
U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday submitted an agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation with Russia for consideration with Congress.
Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom, and William Burns, the then U.S. Ambassador to Russia, signed the agreement in May 2008. However, the Bush administration withdrew it from Congress after the August 2008 armed conflict between Georgia and the republic of South Ossetia.
Obama has now resubmitted it. This should become the last bonus the United States has offered to Russia for its support of the new sanctions against Iran.
The Civilian Nuclear Cooperation Agreement, also called a 123 Agreement, is designed for 30 years and allows one of the sides to accept for storage nuclear materials and equipment (including reactors) and components of nuclear research and production from the other side, and to exchange technology.
Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act requires that the United States conclude a formal agreement with another country before bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation can take place.
If U.S. Congress passes the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia, Moscow will gain access to the American nuclear fuel markets. It will be able to accept for storage and reprocessing thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel, which the United State supplies to many countries. This market is assessed at billions of dollars.
The agreement does not require a congressional approval and will enter into force after 90 days of "continuous session" of Congress, unless it passes a bill explicitly rejecting the agreement.
Vedomosti: Russia, Turkey to negotiate cooperation plan
Russia is ready to use Turkey as a market for its energy resources, chemicals and metals, but is wary of political instability and anti-Russian lobby growing more active in Turkey, the Russian business daily Vedomosti writes.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Turkey for an official visit on Tuesday, May 11. Russian officials expect to sign 25 cooperation deals, some of them involving energy majors Gazprom and Rosneft, and an interim memorandum on the construction of Turkey's first nuclear power pant, Akkuyu.
Vedomosti also looked at the Russian-Turkish cooperation plan for 2010 through 2012 drafted three months ago by the Economic Development Ministry.
Russia is interested in Turkey as a market for energy resources, chemicals and metals, and nuclear technologies, the plan says. Turkey supplies farming products and consumer goods to Russia and is a very popular tourist destination. There is a list of lucrative joint projects attached to the plan, although some of the projects on the list are no longer relevant, such as Novolipetsk Steel's talks on building a smelter at Zonguldak, on Turkey's northwestern shore of the Black Sea, or Mirax Group's planned acquisition of the Rixos hotel chain in Antalya.
However, there are also risks stipulated in the ministry's plan. The risks include political instability in Turkey and a potential opposition of the anti-Russian lobby there.
Valery Kononov, chief commercial advisor for the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), does not see any serious obstacles to cooperation. Konstantin Simonov, president of the National Energy Security Fund, on the other hand, warns that Turkey does not view Russia as a strategic partner while the U.S. influence on the Turkish elite is considerable.
Rossiiskaya Gazeta: Medvedev discusses Middle East issues in Damascus
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has visited Damascus for the first time in the history of relations between Syria and democratic Russia. This is also his first Middle East tour.
Medvedev discussed Middle East issues with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. In their joint statement, both heads of state voiced concern over persisting regional tensions and said they were primarily caused by the continued Israeli occupation of Arab territories.
Damascus expects Moscow to persuade Israel to resume negotiations and to convince the United States to adopt a more serious approach toward the Middle East peace settlement. Syria is also ready to compromise, provided that such compromises do not affect sovereign state rights.
The two leaders also discussed bilateral economic cooperation. Syria, which used to buy Soviet military equipment, remains interested in Russian weapons. Russian Minister of Transport Igor Levitin said Moscow and Damascus were negotiating the delivery of civilian aircraft to Syria.
Oil and gas cooperation, including construction of new refineries, was also discussed.
The sides examined possible cooperation in the nuclear power industry sphere. Anticipating international criticism, President al-Assad noted the importance of honoring all clauses of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and turning the Middle East into a region free from weapons of mass destruction.
Medvedev also insisted on a nuclear-free Middle East, saying a catastrophe was otherwise possible.
May 12, 2010
RIA Novosti
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