The two Presidents exchanged views on the outcome of the European Union summit in Brussels on September 1, 2008. Mr Medvedev noted the constructive role France, which currently holds the EU presidency, played in obtaining an overall balanced decision. At the same time, Russia regrets that the summit document did not reflect a principled assessment of Georgia’s action as being the initial cause of the crisis situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Mr Medvedev and Mr Sarkozy discussed issues related to the preparations and format of the Russian-French summit meeting in Moscow on September 8, 2008.