President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you, Nursultan Abishevich.
We are very grateful to you for inviting us to this beautiful place, where we can have an informal discussion of the problems that have built up.
This last year has been far from easy, but at the same time, we have made good progress in our preparations, and what is important now is to spread our efforts in the right way and work steadily to carry out the agreements between our countries.
We all meet in various formats. What is good about this kind of meeting is that we can examine the various situations from all different angles.
You outlined three subjects that we should concentrate on above all. The first is the Collective Security Treaty Organisation. I fully agree with you that this should be a strong and effective organisation, whose members share close development principles and sign the corresponding agreements. Our task is therefore to activate this organisation’s work and make it more effective. We discussed this in Moscow, and now too we will look at what we can perhaps do in the nearest future.
The economic crisis and global financial crisis affect all countries’ economies, some more so and some less so, but the economies of the countries represented here today are so closely linked that changes in one automatically have an impact on the others, whether we want this or not. We all therefore need to coordinate our action. I will tell you about the recent events in which I have taken part, of course, such as the G-20 summit in Washington and the work the Russian Federation is carrying out today.
We will review the situation at the end of March or in early April, and some time at the start of April we will meet again in London. I want to coordinate with you on these matters so that when Russia takes part in this next G-20 meeting in London, it will be able to represent our collective interests. Only through collective action can we respond to this crisis, and so I think this is of vital importance.
Integration is something we are all working on constantly. We need to look at where we stand today. We have taken some steps forward within the EuAsEC [Eurasian Economic Community], and I think we could look now at what our steps will be.
Integration is no less relevant at this time of serious financial difficulties in the world, and I am sure that if we can continue working together, moving steadily, pursuing concrete objectives and carrying out the projects we have outlined, we will be able to respond adequately to the crisis. I think that we should discuss this agenda and I think it is clear that this is in the interests of our countries and peoples, because the most important thing in this kind of situation is to do everything we can to maintain our people’s living standards. This is a sacrosanct task for the governments of all our countries. I think that you have created all the right conditions for this, Nursultan Abishevich. Today we will discuss all the issues we set on our agenda. Thank you.