Svmuu reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with heads of major global news agencies in St. Petersburg on the 4th, stated that Russia agrees to make compromises on the Ukraine issue, but needs to persuade Ukraine to believe this. Putin said that Russia has no objection to Ukraine joining the European Union, but opposes the EU becoming a military alliance. The EU can play a positive role in resolving the Ukraine issue, but the approach should be to convince Ukraine to accept a compromise plan rather than providing weapons to Ukraine. Putin stated that Russia hopes to sign documents with Ukraine's "legitimate representatives," and the agreement reached between Russia and Ukraine will be a document of historic significance. He noted that holding a presidential election in Ukraine is very important. (Xinhua News Agency)