Ukraine hopes for reviving cooperation with Russia

Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Vladimir Litvin hopes that the joint project with Russia on building Antonov-70 aircraft will get off the ground. Speaking at a session of the inter-parliamentary commission on cooperation in Voronezh (south of Moscow), he pointed out that that city was already implementing a joint Russian-Ukrainian project on building Antonov-148 planes. Litvin believes that it is time to revive the inter-parliamentary working group on cooperation between Russia and Ukraine in high technology fields, including aircraft building and space research. The working group was set up at the commission’s previous session which was held in Kiev in November 2010. The Antonov-70 is a medium-haul cargo plane developed by the Antonov design bureau in Kiev. It is intended for both the military and commercial use. An aircraft of this model made its first flight in 1994.