Ukraine and Russia will sign a host of new cooperation agreements on security, energy and transport as early as next week, an official from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said on Monday.
"A large number of documents on the Russian-Ukrainian strategic partnership could be signed in a week, on October 3-4, during the Russia-Ukrainian economic forum in Gelenjik [southern Russia]," said Oleg Bondarenko, executive director of the CSTO Institute in Ukraine.
Bondarenko said Russia and Ukraine were both interested in the revival and development of infrastructure in many branches of the Ukrainian economy and would not delay the signing of new cooperation agreements.
"The Russian and the Ukrainian governments are interested in the signing of these documents as soon as possible, otherwise we would have nothing to modernize - the whole infrastructure would crumble," Bondarenko said.
A senior Russian diplomat later confirmed the intention to sign agreements on security, energy, transportation and R&D projects.
"We are reviving what we had before and this will allow us to focus our intellectual, financial and technological resources, benefitting both Ukraine and Russia," said Vsevolod Loskutov, consul ambassador of the Russian Embassy in Ukraine.
Russia-Ukraine ties have blossomed since Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych replaced the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko in February.
Bilateral trade almost doubled in the first half of 2010 year-on-year to almost $20 billion.
KIEV, September 20 (RIA Novosti)
