Representing the Russian side at the meeting were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, and Head of the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology and Chairman of the Russian part of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation Anton Shalayev.
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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President,
I would like to welcome you to Moscow on your first visit as President of Republika Srpska.
I am also pleased to see here with you Mr Stevandic, Speaker of the National Assembly, as well as our long-standing friend, Milorad Dodik.
As I mentioned to you privately, we greatly appreciate your personal participation in the events marking the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. As you rightly noted, this is our shared holiday. We know that in Republika Srpska, May 9 is also officially observed as Victory Day over Nazism. On this day, we honour the memory of those who, through immense sacrifice and at the cost of their own lives, defended the right to peace, freedom, and independence.
We have developed constructive and regular cooperation with Mr Dodik, and it is important that all of you are like-minded persons. The Russian side remains firmly committed to continuing productive cooperation with Republika Srpska.
Relations between Republika Srpska and Russia are rooted in centuries-old traditions of friendship and the close spiritual ties between our peoples. We share a common vision of history as well as a stance towards the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Balkans, and Europe. We jointly speak out in favour of a more just international order and the promotion of mutually beneficial cooperation free from interference in internal affairs. We will continue to foster our partnership in the political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian spheres.
We will continue to develop our partnership in the political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian spheres. And I would like to reiterate what I said when we entered this hall: the Serbian and Russian peoples, along with the other peoples of Russia have for centuries shared especially close ties and a deep mutual understanding.
We are very pleased to see you here in Moscow. Welcome.
President of Republika Srpska Sinisa Karan (retranslated): Thank you, Mr President, sincerely and on behalf of the entire Republika Srpska delegation and the Serbian people, on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of Victory. I fully agree with what you said: the peoples of our countries fought genocide and, ultimately, were those who defeated Nazism.
Above all, the Serbian people and Republika Srpska have always remained committed to cooperation with your country. I would especially like to stress that our republic was founded upon this historical legacy.
Mr President, you have repeatedly stated today that we must not allow history, suffering, or historical injustice to be revised or forgotten.
As you rightly noted, Republika Srpska is a historical response to suffering, created to ensure that the tragedy endured by the Serbian people is never repeated.
Once again, I would like to thank you. Your support is a great honour for us – for our delegation and for the Serbian people as a whole. We are sincerely grateful for your hospitality and for the opportunity to be here in the Russian Federation.
Our visit to the Russian Federation confirms that both Russia and Republika Srpska share the same approach to preserving the legacy of the Great Patriotic War and that we are true friends.
I would also like to note that our relations have become particularly strong in recent years. We maintain regular contacts, including ongoing communication between Milorad Dodik and yourself. Our relations are particularly close and are built on mutual respect. We are united by our shared history and by the many facets of our cooperation, which have developed through our common identity and spiritual ties. In this way, we have further strengthened the sense of brotherhood and friendship between our peoples.
Mr President, I would especially like to emphasise and thank you for the fact that the Russian Federation remains our most important strategic partner on the international stage. It is important to stress that this has always been the case, and we are confident that it will remain so in the future. We will continue working to build an even stronger foundation for our relations.
Our partnership is rests on sincere friendship, equality, and cooperation free from political conditions. This is further proof that Russia continues to support the Dayton Accords. We are grateful to Mr Lavrov and all of your representatives, particularly those in the Federation Council and within the Peace Implementation Council, for their respect for and commitment to the principles of the Dayton Accords.
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