16/12 Medvedev: Russia ready to help EU with "necessary financial means"

English.news.cn   2011-12-16 00:12:27

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday said that Russia was ready to help the European Union (EU) and the eruozone in fighting debt crisis.

"Forty-one percent of foreign exchange reserves in Russia are euro-denominated, so EU member states and Russia all are interested in the security of it," Medvedev said at a joint press conference following the EU-Russia summit.

"This is why we will keep backing the EU in terms of our quota in IMF (International Monetary Fund) membership and we will abide by all the commitments, being the participant of the IMF and ready to invest financial means to back the European economy and the euro zone," Medvedev added.

An EU official said on Wednesday that Russia might be willing to contribute up to 10 billion euros (13 billion U.S. dollars) to rescue the eurozone.

"We are ready to look at and consider other measures of support," Medvedev said. But he also pointed out that "the main thing is the decisions that are to be taken by the EU member states" in fulfilling the bailout conclusions.

He said: "Only Europe will be able to help Europe but other countries should provide conditions for Europe to liberate itself from the crisis burden as soon as possible and recover from this downturn as soon as possible."

"For Russia, a united Europe is very important," Medvedev said, "For us, it's important that the European states should agree and exercise reserve and courage to preserve all that has been done over the recent decades and preserve one of the most important reserve currencies, the euro."

Editor: yan