In his address at the reception, President Vladimir Putin said that the long-standing tradition of friendly relations between the Russian and Canadian nations rested on a firm basis, which gave an assurance of Russian-Canadian relations making further progress in the 21st century.
Mr Putin said that Canada had attracted immigrants from Russia since long ago. Now, they were making a significant contribution to Canada’s economic success. The two countries could rely on those people in developing bilateral cooperation. As the President also said, the changes in Russia over the previous decades had pulled down artificial obstacles to the two nations’ mutual rapprochement.
The two countries shared the goal of making those contacts lasting, effective and future-oriented, the President said.