"I would like to give Russian President Vladimir Putin his due. We did not agree on everything, but we did reach an agreement," Juncker said during the news conference in the wake of the summit meeting. "It is not that easy to negotiate with Vladimir Putin. He is an intellectual and tough negotiator. However, we have managed to produce certain results."
EU representatives found a friend of Europe in the person of Vladimir Putin, Juncker said.
"Barroso, Solana and I are leaving Moscow firmly convinced that we have found a friend of Europe in the person of Vladimir Putin," he said, adding that there had been certain difficulties during the talks: "Russia would not always understand the EU, and the EU would not always understand Russia. This is natural, because everybody has an opinion of his own."
According to the Luxembourg prime minister, the work may turn out to be more difficult than anticipated, but it will carry on.
"Today, we were facing the future. It is good that we succeeded in wrapping up the talks on the four spaces (fields of cooperation). This means that our interdependency is on the rise," he said.
Juncker stressed that the EU was the main trade partner of Russia while Russia was the fourth largest partner of the EU.
"This indicates a concurrence of interests. The main objective for today is to convert the shared interests into shared values," he said. "I am leaving Russia with a light heart."
