YALTA, July 12 - Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia and Ukraine should make every effort to boost bilateral trade.

On Thursday, in the lead-up to a meeting of the Russian-Ukrainian interstate commission, Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych held a face-to face-discussion.

Yanukovych said that trade between Russia and Ukraine last year came to over $55 billion. However, this figure is not very good so far this year and this has largely been the result of weather conditions such as the "severe conditions this winter."