President says President of European Parliament praised his intention to resume pragmatic relations with Russia

"The development by Ukraine of pragmatic relations with important international players and, in particular, with Russia, was praised," he told reporters in Brussels on Monday after meeting with Buzek.

Yanukovych also said that during their meeting, the sides had discussed issues of energy security and cooperation in issues of the "progress" in talks on signing an association agreement and on "a visa-free dialog."

He expressed hope that the European Parliament's leadership would support Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU.