Russia is back in the Balkans, Black Sea: Putin
ISTANBUL - President Vladimir Putin said here Monday that Russia, with its increasing power, was regaining its influence in the Balkans and the Black Sea region.
"Everybody knows that the Balkans and the Black Sea region were of special interest to us," Putin told reporters at the end of a summit of the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).
"Russia, with its increasing potentials, is coming back to this region. This is an obvious fact," he said. "This is in the interest of Russia but also of our partners."
Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia's influence in the Balkans, for decades a communist stronghold, and in the Black Sea region, diminished.
Putin was among 12 leaders who held talks in Istanbul Monday on ways of boosting trade and energy cooperation in the Black Sea region.
The area the BSEC covers is the world's second-largest source of oil and natural gas after the Gulf and is a major transit corridor for energy supplies bound for Europe.
Putin flew in from Croatia, where he met with leaders of Balkan countries on energy cooperation and urged them to trust Russia as a reliable energy supplier as he outlined plans for a major new gas pipeline through the region.
06/25/2007 17:58 GMT
