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President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Ministers, I wish you a warm welcome. I hope that you have had substantive talks.
I think this kind of meeting between our two countries’ foreign and defence ministers is very useful indeed, because it gives us the chance to discuss international matters and security cooperation, and also cooperation and work between Russia and Italy in the broad sense. I hope to hear from you on what agreements you have reached, and will be happy, of course, to discuss with you some of the matters on our bilateral agenda.
In general, Russia seeks all-round development of its multifaceted strategic relations with Italy, and this of course includes full-fledged cooperation with the new government in Italy. I had a brief but memorable meeting with Mr Mario Monti in Seoul. We spoke about the current situation in Europe, and he gave me an interesting and clear account of his view of what is happening in the European Union economy and the eurozone. Of course, I wished him and the entire Italian government success in resolving the current economic challenges.
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