Updated | Muscat in historic meeting with Russian PM Medvedev

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat pledges to take business ties between Malta and Russia to a new level • Deal will see 300 Russians study in Malta in 2018

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat meets Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat meets Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat held bilateral talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, the first meeting between a Maltese and Russian Prime Minister in 24 years.

Relations between Malta and Russia recently took a turn for the sour after the Maltese government refused to allow a Russian warship destined for Syria to refuel in Maltese waters. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova last week criticised the decision,saying that Malta had “fallen victim to the West’s information war”.

However, Muscat put such differences aside during his meeting with Medvedev, telling the Russian Prime Minister that Malta is ready to use its upcoming stint as head of the EU’s rotating presidency to improve relations between the EU and Russia.

In a statement, Muscat said that the two spoke about means to improve business relations between Malta and Russia, particularly in the tourism, logistics and health sectors. They also discussed the wars in Syria and Libya and “other regional issues that closely affect the two countries”.

At the end of the talks, Muscat and Medvedev signed three agreements aimed at improving bilateral relations in education, tourism and business respectively.

The Prime Minister was accompanied to Moscow by deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech and foreign minister George Vella.

Earlier, Muscat spoke at a business forum at the Moscow Business Centre that was organised jointly by TradeMalta, the Malta Chamber of Commerce, and the Russian Chamber of Commerce. In it, he urged Russian businesspeople to invest in Malta, noting that it is a Eurozone country and part of the EU single market, and that a new logistics centre is in the pipeline.

He called for closer business ties between the two countries, arguing that they “have a lot to offer each other”

“My government wants to take relations between Malta and Russia to a new level, and the mere fact that this forum is being held is proof that the two sides want to strengthen our bilateral commercial relations.”

During his visit, a deal was signed between the Domain Academy – a Maltese private educational centre - and the National Research University, that will see 300 Russian students study in Malta in 2018.

In a statement, the government said that the Russia university had been spent months searching for a European country in which to offer higher level courses, and ultimately chose Malta because it is a stable country and a “centre of excellence in the educational sector”.