Putin calls on Russian lawmakers to back bill on Eurasian Economic Union in priority manner
MOSCOW. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on the State Duma and the Federation Council to support an agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union as soon as this document is submitted to the Russian, Belarusian, and Kazakh parliaments.
"We are entering the decisive phase of preparations for a treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union. We expect that the coordination of the treaty text should be finished by May 1, 2014, and then it will reach the parliaments of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. I am urging you, my esteemed colleagues, to consider and support this document in a priority manner," Putin said in an annual address to the Federal Assembly on Thursday.
The process involving Kyrgyzstan's and Armenia's accession to the Belarusian-Kazakh-Russian Customs Union is under way now, he said.
"A working group is drawing up roadmaps for Kyrgyzstan's and Armenia's accession to the Customs Union. I am sure that real achievements of Eurasian integration will only make it more appealing to our other neighbors, including our Ukrainian partners," he said.