Mr Putin expressed his sympathy and his support for the French leadership and people in connection with the dramatic events the country has been going through. The President expressed his confidence that the measures undertaken by the French authorities, already with tangible results, would make it possible to achieve full and rapid stabilisation of the situation in the country.
Mr Chirac expressed his thanks for this show of solidarity.
The two leaders expressed great satisfaction with the level of cooperation reached between Russia and France and noted that the two countries have intensive bilateral contacts making it possible to settle important practical issues regarding their relations.
Discussions of cooperation in international affairs focused particularly on Russia’s upcoming chairmanship of the G-8. Mr Chirac evaluated highly Russia’s preparatory work for the G-8 summit scheduled to take place in St Petersburg in the summer of 2006.