Source: Office of the President of UkraineToday the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the President of Russia Dmitriy Medvedev take part in the International Road Rally "Avtoprobeg" taking place between the two biggest European countries. Meeting "behind the wheels" the two Heads of State not only demonstrate the warming climate in the two countries' relationship, but set a new trend in high profile meetings between national leaders.
Albeit the informal atmosphere, during one of their pit-stops, the Presidents have discussed the prospects of the cooperation in the nuclear energy sector between the two countries as well as the signing of the additional agreements on the Russian Black Sea Fleet basing on the Ukrainian territory.
According to the organizers, the main aim of the road rally is to foster the good neighbourly relations between Russia and Ukraine. In addition to the Presidents of the two countries, many celebrity actors, prominent journalists and local show-biz stars take part in the road rally.
The event, replicating the success of the internationally renowned celebrity road rally Gumball 3000, is organized by the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the Russia's gas giant Gazprom, which ranks 16th on the Forbes' list of the world's largest companies and plays an important role in the Ukraine-Russia gas relations. Ukraine, notably, is today the largest transitor of Russian natural gas to Europe.
The unusual meeting between the Presidents is the latest addition to the history of the informal presidential meetings, which in 2001 saw the then Russian President Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush roam the latter's Texas rancho on a jeep, and in June 2010 the Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev talk politics with his US counterpart Barack Obama while eating hamburgers in a cafeteria in Virginia.
