'More than gas - there are other values' - Medvedev

President Dmitry Medvedev has called for wider and deeper Russian-Ukrainian ties at an economic forum in the Ukrainian industrial center of Donetsk.

Medvedev made his statement speaking at the Inter-Regional Economic Forum after holding talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovich in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine. The Russian President said that only trans-border and regional unions are powerful players in today’s economy and thus called upon the two peoples to strengthen their roles in such unions – the World Trade Organization for Ukraine and Russia’s future participation in this organization.He added that Russia’s future participation in the Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan should be taken into consideration. Medvedev called upon the assembly to do everything for the co-operation between Russia and Ukraine to strengthen and not weaken.Medvedev also noted that Ukraine and Russia must further develop consular relations and have regular flights between regional cities and not only between the capitals. “Russia and Ukraine are two large European states and our peoples’ input into the development of the continent cannot be overestimated. We have a lot of joint plans and they can be implemented only on the basis of mutual trust, this is the best advantage for solving any tasks,” the Russian President said. The Russian leader added that Russo-Ukrainian co-operation must stretch beyond gas transit talks.“There are other values and we must learn to develop them in the correct way,” Medvedev said.