Opening the meeting at the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin confirmed the two countries’ commitment to the progressive development of their partnership. He said that Russia and Italy had reached an unprecedented level of mutual understanding.
Mr Putin said that during the informal meeting with the Italian Prime Minister in Sochi they discussed in detail the most important issues facing the two countries and a number of current political matters. Despite the fact that the two leaders met just several hours ago, Mr Putin was glad to hear from Mr Berlusconi that he had already taken some steps to implement their reached agreements.
After the talks a ceremony of signing the Russian-Italian agreements was held. The agreements included a joint declaration, a protocol of understanding between the Russian and Italian governments on scientific and technical cooperation for 2002–2004, and a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the two countries’ space agencies.
After the talks Mr Putin and Mr Berlusconi held a joint news conference.