President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,
It is a great pleasure to see you here in Russia. We agreed to hold this meeting, and I want to thank you for agreeing and finding the time to come here. I hope we will have the chance to discuss our bilateral relations and also go over a few regional and international issues.
We have quite a high level of mutual contacts. Our countries are carrying out promising major projects together. I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss all of these different areas with you today.
Welcome!
President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic (translated from Russian): Mr President, thank you for the invitation and for your hospitality.
As you said yourself, our relations are improving all the time and are showing solid growth. Our frequent contacts and the regular contacts between our officials are helping this process.
We will discuss the projects already underway of course, and also those that are still at the planning stage. Overall, Serbia is happy with the Russian Federation’s policy towards our country.
There is always room for improvement, but Serbia is grateful to the Russian Federation for taking the side of international law with regard to the Kosovo and Metohija issue. We keep you closely informed on the situation regarding this issue.
Serbia has already started preparations for building the section of the South Stream pipeline that will cross its territory. It would make us very happy indeed if you were able to find the time to visit Serbia before the end of the year.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.
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