Putin instructs government to update cooperation with Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday asked the government to update key areas of cooperation with Ukraine, the Interfax news agency reported.

"I requested that the government make updated proposals on key areas of our cooperation, bearing in mind the post-election situation in Ukraine," Putin was cited by Interfax as saying at a government meeting.

He asked the government to pay special attention "to the decline of economic growth rates in Ukraine, analyze its possible effect on Russian partners, and ways to improve the situation."

Putin's instruction came prior to the arrival of Ukraine's new president Viktor Yushchenko here, his first foreign trip after being inaugurated on Jan. 23.

The Ukrainian president arrived here Monday afternoon. He is expected to meet with Putin and other high-ranking Russian officials during his half-day stay in Moscow and will give a press conference in the evening before his departure.

Later in the week, Yushchenko will visit Western and Central Europe.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was cited by Interfax as saying: "Russia and Ukraine live side by side. Our peoples are interrelated by thousands of bonds, our cultures and economies are mutually dependent, and there is nothing unnatural in Yushchenko choosing Russia as the country for his first visit."

Yushchenko was sworn in as Ukraine's new president on Sunday, bringing an end to months of political turmoil and uncertainty triggered by a presidential election crisis.

The 50-year-old new state leader has pledged to steer Ukraine on a new course, fighting corruption and forging closer ties with the European Union while maintaining traditional good relations with Russia.