Russia Pledges $10 Billion in Eurozone Aid

Posted December 15th, 2011 at 2:15 pm (UTC-5)
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Russia says it is ready to commit more than $10 billion to the International Monetary Fund to help support the struggling eurozone economy.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made the pledge Thursday in Brussels during the biannual EU-Russia summit.

His economic adviser, Arkady Dvorkovich, earlier said $10 billion would be the minimum commitment Russia would make.

Mr. Medvedev says 41 percent of Russia's currency reserves are invested in euros and that Russia is interested in seeing the European Union preserved as a powerful economic and political force.

The offer follows last week's summit of European leaders in which nearly all EU countries pledged a total of up to $200 billion in funds and loans to the IMF rescue fund.

Thursday's summit gathered EU President Herman Van Rompuy, EU Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso, and Mr. Medvedev, among other officials, and comes just days after Russia's much criticized parliamentary elections.

In a news conference after the summit, Van Rompuy criticized the vote saying the EU was concerned about irregularities, but welcomed Russia's pledge to monitor future polls.

On Friday, the World Trade Organization is set to approve Russia as a member, after some 18 years of trying to join.