Putin calls for scientific cooperation with all interested countries

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia should develop scientific cooperation with all interested countries.

"We need to cooperate with anyone who is willing to work with us," Putin said at a working meeting with President of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Alexander Sergeyev, according to an official Kremlin transcript.

Putin said this work should be built on an equal basis and an equal exchange, adding that Russia should not only share skills and knowledge, but receive equivalent information from the other side as well.

Sergeyev said the RAS had begun to let its representative offices abroad organize interaction with foreign colleagues.

It also plans to establish several inter-academy scientific exchange centers in Russia, which will host "brainstorming working groups" of some 20-30 top level professionals who will be able to analyze trends and chart solutions to various scientific problems, he said.