Russia ready for visa-free regime with EU - Putin

Russia is technologically prepared to introduce a visa-free regime with European Union, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

Russia is technologically prepared to introduce a visa-free regime with European Union, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"We are ready for a visa-free regime with European countries. There is no unified opinion on the issue in united Europe. We are not in a hurry, we understand that the issue is complicated - 27 counties, many opinions," Putin said at the Engineering Technologies-2010 international forum.

He emphasized that such decisions are always taken jointly. "We have always acted on the assumption of this fact and we will continue this in the future. We are open to transfer to a visa-free regime and we are ready for the move," he said.

During the Russia-EU summit held on May 1-June 31 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia passed the EU a draft agreement on abolishing the visa regime.

ZHUKOVSKY, Russia (RIA Novosti)