Vladimir Putin: Dear Mr Prime Minister!
I am glad to welcome you to St Petersburg. I hope that the organisation of the event and its location are to your liking. I was very pleased to hear your positive opinion on this account. And of course we must use this opportunity to talk about our bilateral relations.
Our relations are developing as they should and I would like to point out that the most fundamental aspect of our cooperation – economic cooperation – is developing very quickly. Last year the economy grew by around 40 percent. British companies are increasingly active in the Russian market. And I hope that our companies will also receive the opportunity to work in Great Britain. And as far as I understand, we are interested in actively developing our bilateral ties.
Welcome.
Tony Blair: First of all, Mr President, I would like to say once again that it is a great honour for me to participate in the G8 summit. I would like to use this opportunity to thank you again for the excellent organisation of the event.
You correctly said that the present state of our bilateral relations is strong and steady. And important British investments have already been made in Russia. And we want to do everything possible so that investment flows from Great Britain to Russia and from Russia to Great Britain develop and increase from year to year. I would also like to point out that I am very happy with the level of our cooperation on a number of international issues that we have been working on recently. And concerning energy security I think that the negotiations that took place today were very important and useful. And I am thankful to you for suggesting that this issue be a subject of discussion here.
In summary I would simply like to say that it is a great pleasure for me to be here with you in St Petersburg once again.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.