STOCKHOLM — President Dmitry Medvedev indicated on Wednesday that Russia is ready to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 25 percent, if other countries do the same, the president of the European Union said.
On Monday, Russia and the EU agreed to create an early warning system regarding energy supplies to prevent a fiasco like the one last winter when Moscow cut off natural gas supplies to Western Europe.
“This was one of the best summits we’ve had so far,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said at the one-day meeting.
“I am quite satisfied,” Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said. “We managed to discuss issues in a constructive manner, without the emotions that have hindered previous meetings.”
Swedish and European leaders placed emphasis on climate change, given the UN conference on global warming in Copenhagen next month. They wanted to persuade Russia to cut greenhouse gas emissions, and may have succeeded.
“I very much welcome the signal from President Medvedev today of [Russia’s] proposed emission reduction target of 25 percent,” Barroso said.
Previously Russia has said it is willing to cut emissions by 10 percent to 15 percent from 1990 levels, while EU members are committed to 20 percent reductions by 2020.
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