President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Good afternoon, Mr Putin.
First of all I would like to sincerely congratulate you on your victory in the presidential election. Yesterday, the Central Election Commission published the final results. The figures are absolutely convincing, and they show an indisputable fact: our citizens trust the policy implemented in our country in recent years.
Indeed, we have been working together on laying the foundation for a new economy, modernising the economy and promoting a technological overhaul. Naturally, a great deal of attention was paid to the development of the social sphere, although it is clear that there is still a wide range of outstanding problems. A major challenge facing our state is ensuring security and defence capability, as well as maintaining high-level relations with other nations around the globe.
I am confident that your future policy will cover all of these areas and would like to sincerely wish you every success. Once again, congratulations.
Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin: Thank you.
Mr President, I would like to address all Russian citizens today and thank everyone who participated in the presidential election.
It would be appropriate to point out that the President in our country is not affiliated with any particular party. Therefore, our efforts will be for the benefit of the entire Russian nation, regardless of party preference.
Just yesterday you held a meeting where we discussed economic development. Our main challenge in the economy is to maintain the macroeconomic indicators and the positive trends that we have reached in recent years, despite the economic crisis.
Together you and I have outlined our priority tasks in the social sphere and they can be addressed solely on the basis of strong economic growth. Yesterday we decided which aspects of this work we will tackle together. As we have agreed, today we will begin consultations on the issues related to shaping the future of the Russian Federation.
Dmitry Medvedev: Agreed. Let's get down to work.
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