President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Kitamura, colleagues, friends,
I am very glad to welcome you all in Moscow.
I would like to note that relations between our states are developing steadily, and we are very happy about this.
I know that yesterday you had fairly detailed talks with your Russian counterpart, Mr Patrushev.
I would like to ask you to convey my best wishes to the Prime Minister [Shinzo Abe]. I hope we will have an opportunity to speak about our further relations with the Prime Minister – when and where we will be able to continue our meetings and consultations.
We are very glad to see you. Welcome!
Secretary General of the National Security Council of Japan Shigeru Kitamura (retranslated): Mr President,
Thank you very much for finding the time to receive me today, although you are exceptionally busy with reformatting the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation and following the Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly.
Until yesterday, I accompanied the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr Abe, during his tour, and Mr Abe asked me to pass on his best regards to you.
Mr President, as you have just noted correctly, and I am very happy to state that Japanese-Russian relations have made a great leap on the basis of your personal trust-based relationship with Prime Minister Abe.
Both our countries, Japan and Russia, are states that bear responsibility for maintaining security in East Asia. I would like to expand our strategic collaboration, and I would like our countries to become partners that can trust each other.
Mr Patrushev, the Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, and I had a very constructive day because we were able to conduct a candid exchange of opinions on the entire range of issues in the area of security pertaining to our bilateral relations.
<…>