The warm congratulatory messages sent by President Putin underscored the need for expanded bilateral relations and more profound intra-CIS integration processes.
In his message to US President George W. Bush, Mr Putin said, the year 2001 would go down in history as a period of significant changes and lessons highlighting global fragility and the importance of international unity for the sake of upholding common values. “I believe the current partner-like nature of bilateral relations provides ample reasons to feel confident and optimistic about our future,” the Russian President noted.
In his message to President Jiang Zemin of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Putin emphasised the sincere and candid nature of bilateral relations.
In his message to Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the President stressed the “regular and fruitful top-level bilateral dialogue.”