Putin wants more integration with Ukraine

RUSSIA: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin congratulated Ukraine's president-elect Viktor Yanukovich on Monday and expressed hope for closer cooperation, Russian news agencies reported.

Yanukovich, who won the presidency by a narrow margin in a Feb. 7 vote, has made clear he will pursue more friendly ties with Russia after years of tension under the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko. Putin suggested the Kremlin wants Ukraine to take a more active part in Russian-dominated regional organizations such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS, which Yushchenko criticised.

"We are ready to offer our Ukrainian partners joint work on those areas of integration in which Ukraine did take part - but did so in a less active way than had initially been announced," RIA quoted Putin as saying. Reuters