Vladimir Putin: Mr President, I am very glad to have yet another opportunity to meet with you here in St Petersburg. We have already worked quite a bit in a multilateral format and it is very good to have the opportunity to talk about our bilateral relations.
First and foremost I would like to express my satisfaction with the rate at which our relations are developing. And in part this is thanks to your persistent efforts and those of your colleagues. And we perceive this effort coming from different parts of the political spectrum.
Welcome.
Jacques Chirac: First of all I would like to thank and congratulate Mr Putin on his hosting the G8. I consider this G8 to be a great summit and you can believe me when I say so because I have experience. I want to thank you once again for your outstanding hospitality and for the quality of your reception here.
I would also like to mention the quality of our work that was perfectly organised by yourself, Mr President, and your employees.
And I would also like to add how pleased we are with the way the beautiful city of St Petersburg has welcomed us. I also want to say that we appreciated your hospitality and I want to emphasise the quality of yesterday’s concert, especially the Russian portion of the concert. This is a great Russian tradition. And I have asked Mr President to congratulate all the artists that performed last night and convey our admiration to them.
And in addition to this I would like to say that relations between France and Russia are excellent. They are very close. That is why our conversations do not demand a lot of time, simply because our relations are based on trust, friendship and respect. We appreciate one another.
And once again I would like to thank you, Mr Putin, thank the city of St Petersburg and thank all of Russia for showing us such hospitality at this G8, one that will remain in our memories for a long, long time.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.