The extent to which the European Union and Russia depend on each other is growing, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

Russia and the E.U. are becoming connected to each other more and more, Barroso said, commenting on the results of a visit to Brussels by a delegation of the Russian government led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

It is already possible to see how decisions made by one side impact the other side, he said.

The principle of mutual benefit was one of the key topics of the talks, he said.

Barroso said that some of the issues raised at his meeting with Putin and in his talks between Russian ministers and E.U. commissioners were common both for Russia and Europe.

Questions were asked whether it was possible to say that one side’s regulations would not present negative consequences for the other side, as well as what could be done to offset any possible negative impact, he said.

The E.U. is the largest foreign investor in Russia, accounting for 80 percent of the overall volume of foreign investment in Russia, Barroso said.

It is always possible to improve the investment climate and to promote confidence building measures, the European Commission president said, adding that both parties addressed all of these issues.

On the whole, the Europeans want to invest in Russia, he said.

Commenting on his personal opinion on this issue, Barroso said that it would be important to make sure that investments reach both the energy sector and other industries.

Russia would benefit greatly from gaining access to European technologies and knowhow both in the industry and the services sector, Barroso said.

Market diversification is a topic that is interesting both to Russia and Europe as well, he said.