The two Presidents exchanged New Year’s greetings and wished each other’s nations luck and prosperity. They discussed current Russian-US relations and noted with satisfaction that the preceding years had strengthened their constructive potential, and brought great improvement in their relations though some problems still demanded solution. Mr Putin stressed Russia’s intention to step up cooperation with the new US Administration proceeding from that positive basis.
As they discussed international affairs, the Presidents paid special attention to Middle Eastern settlement. They highlighted the necessity for close Russian-US teamwork as co-sponsors of Middle Eastern peace efforts, and for the international community’s broad-based support of work for the parties to arrive at mutually acceptable agreements as soon as possible.