It is also important to know which areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Russia Ukrainian citizens consider to be the most important. Respondents are very pragmatic when building the hierarchy of priorities. In their opinion, trade and economic ties should be developed in the first place, followed by co-operation in the energy sector. The third place was given to relations in the political sector. Noteworthy, the number of Ukrainian citizens who believe that political contacts are important increased substantially. And the number of respondents who mentioned the security and financial sectors of co-operation substantially decreased. It should be noted that today and in the past years, the majority of the polled does not see contacts in the humanitarian sphere as a priority.

TOWARDS A NEW QUALITY OF CO-OPERATION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND UKRAINE

The dynamics of relations between our countries, figuratively speaking, is reminiscent of the movement of two heavenly bodies not orbiting each other, rather travelling along their own trajectories. Also, their positions in the cultural and political spaces vary. I believe, however, that the reference point is our geographical affinity. We are close, our countries are neighbours, and this, in my opinion, is the starting point of our relations.

Today, it would be logical to consider a range of very important problems in the Russian-Ukiainian relations in several aspects.

Firstly. We face a new situation in our relations when each of the parties is starting to view some realities of co-operation and its future from different perspectives.

Secondly. The relations of Ukraine and Russia with Europe and the Euro-Atlantic community have changed, and there are new aspects requiring whenever possible a non-ideological, unbiased, anc pragmatic dialogue with our Ukrainian colleagues.

Thirdly, there are relations in the context of the Euro-Atlantic orientation of both parties. The partnership of our countries with the EU and USA can be considered in view of the development of the situation on the post-Soviet territory, and from the perspectives of Russia and Ukraine participation in wider alliances, within the frameworks of which we can be useful to each other, co-operating with third countries.

Such a flexibility of the outside world may seem surprising or sometimes confusing, but it is the fact from which, I think, we all should proceed anyway. I see no reasons so far that would allow justify talking about the stabilisation of the system of global and European relations. These systems continue to develop, and, obviously, we should try and foresee their future developto build our relations with them in a perspective way rather than proceeding retrospectively.

We need an objective analysis, including in the intercontext, of how the economies of the two countries develop in order to detect internal reserves for the development of co-operation. In particular, the prospects of export capacities of the two countries in relation to one another and other countries in the world.

In turn, in the bilateral dialogue we shall inevitably, in one way or another, touch upon the issues related to politics and come back to them, maybe, from new angles, and the humanitarian problems, related, for example, to cultural exchange. It is really a difficult and ambiguous complex of bilateral co-operation problems.

I think an open and productive Russian-Ukrainian dialogue at different levels, which is one of the topics of today's consultative meeting, gives rich food for thought and serves as a basis for the development of recommendafor the future.