Russia to bail EU out of financial crisis?

The statement came on Monday after a meeting between President Dmitry Medvedev’s top economic advisor, Arkady Dvorkovich with Spain’s finance minister Elena Salgado.

However, the fiscal aid would come only after a rescue plan had been drawn up in the EU, putting further strain on France and Germany to draw up a plan over the Eurozone crisis.

The move comes after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced at the weekend that they would present a strategy to combat the EU’s financial shortcomings in three weeks’ time.

“We expect the European countries to announce a concrete, clear crisis exit strategy,” news agencies quoted Arkady Dvorkovich as saying.

According to Medvedev’s top economic expert, the financial crisis in Europe may have negative consequences on markets in Eastern Europe and Asia.

This is not the first time that Moscow has pushed Brussels into tightening cooperation between Russia and the EU.

In September, Aleksey Kudrin appealed to EU countries to draw up a strategy to combat the financial crisis as regional markets were already feeling a downturn due to troubles in the Eurozone. (jb)

Source: IAR/AFP