President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, I am very glad to see you. We have an opportunity to discuss the entire range of our relations. It has been a long time since we last met. Of course, I would also like to hear your opinion on the situation in the region as a whole. Regrettably, we see that it tends to deteriorate. This directly concerns Syria.
As for our trade and economic ties, there are many questions as well. There are some promising areas, and I hope to be able to discuss this with you as well.
Once again, I am delighted to see you. Welcome.
President of the Syrian Arab Republic Bashar al-Assad (retranslated): Mr President, I am happy to see you again.
My visit coincided with the anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries. Over the past decades, our countries have gone through difficult trials. These decades also saw complex transformation processes in our countries. However, throughout all these years, relations between our nations have been based on trust, which is evidence of our nations’ maturity.
Considering the current developments in the world, and in particular in the Eurasian region, our meeting today is extremely important for discussing the details of all these developments, as well as potential outlooks and scenarios.
Thank you.
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