Opening the meeting, Dmitry Medvedev said he hoped the Khanty-Mansiysk summit would give new impetus to relations between Moscow and Brussels.
Mr Medvedev stressed the need to work together with the European Union to coordinate efforts to counter the threats and find responses to the challenges facing the international community today.
The President said that Russia seeks an open and frank discussion and wants to give relations with the EU new impetus in order to be able to overcome any problems that come up along as the way as the two sides draw closer together.
Mr Medvedev welcomed the fact that the European Union has managed to resolve internal differences and has obtained a mandate to begin negotiating a new basic agreement with Russia. The President noted that this agreement should be a framework document, brief and not weighed down by detail, that will open the way for the conclusion of sector-based agreements for cooperation with the European Union in different areas.