Russia is ready to invest in a rescue of the eurozone managed by the International Monetary Fund, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday at the close of his last summit with the EU. Referring to commitments under the terms of IMF quotas, Medvedev said: “We will abide by all the commitments. We are ready to invest all financial means to back the European economy and the eurozone.” Medvedev spoke after his economic adviser Arkady Dvorkovich said Moscow was ready to contribute up to $20 billion depending on progress toward a 200-billion-euro boost for the IMF agreed by European Union leaders. The EU has given participating states until Monday to work out the details of a series of bilateral loans to the IMF that would then be used in efforts to stabilise the debt-laden eurozone. The Russian president did not mention any figures but added that Russia “is ready to look at and consider other measures of support” as well as IMF-controlled aid, currently being discussed by finance ministers from around the globe. Dvorkovich said earlier $10 billion due to be returned to Moscow by the IMF could be diverted toward eurozone aid at the IMF's request and another $10 billion could be added as an optional contribution. Medvedev said Russia wanted to see the EU “preserved as a powerful political and economic force (and the euro) ... preserved as one of the most important reserve currencies.” He said that 41 percent of Russia's currency reserves are held in the euro and half of all Russian external trade is also conducted with the EU. EU states have pledged to boost IMF crisis defenses with loans of 200 billion euros ($265 billion). At a summit on Friday, EU leaders set a deadline of December 19 for pledges or ideas. “What we need to do is make markets believe,” Dvorkovich said, adding that Brazil, China, India and South Africa, the other so-called BRICS emerging giants, “will not object” to the IMF channelling money to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). “European leaders seem to be more optimistic than before,” he added following a private dinner of the partners late Wednesday. “Now they were able to say very specific things.” The summit proper gathered EU president Herman Van Rompuy, executive head Jose Manuel Barroso, foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger. Medvedev was joined by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plus Economic Development and Trade Minister Elvira Nabiullina. “Both the Union and Russia are at a crossroads,” Van Rompuy told Medvedev during his opening speech.
