President Vladimir Putin:
Esteemed Secretary General, dear colleagues,
First of all, allow me to welcome you to Moscow. I am very pleased to meet with you once again, esteemed Secretary General. I would also like to thank you for the message of congratulations you sent me following the presidential election here. International relations have not become any more stable of late. From various quarters we hear talk that the United Nations is not managing to resolve these complex problems. But I would like to see how international relations develop were the United Nations not around. Today, we do not have any other effective instrument for resolving international issues. You know our attitude to the United Nations and our stand on developing this organisation. I think the fact that Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations has become foreign minister is further confirmation, in an administrative form this time, of the importance we place on developing relations with you.
As you know, we support your idea to create a high-level expert group to examine ways to reform the United Nations. We highly value your organisation and your personal efforts to regulate crises.
We are very pleased to receive you here, esteemed Mr Secretary General.
Kofi Annan:
Thank you very much, Mr President. Allow me once again to thank you for your reception and to congratulate you on your re-election to the post of President. I would also like to say how pleased I am to once again have the opportunity to come to Moscow and exchange views with you on the situation in the world today. The Russian Federation has always been a firm backer of the United Nations’ work to effectively regulate the situation in the world, and it has provided our organisation with great support. We would like to express our personal gratitude for your leadership in this matter.
I agree with your view that the tension we faced in the past has somewhat dissipated over the last year, and this is thanks to the fact that countries have united forces to solve problems together.
I hope that this trend will continue, because it is only through our joint efforts that we will be able to resolve the biggest challenges confronting the international community and find positive solutions for the problems we face.
We are pleased that you support our idea to create a high-level group on threats, challenges and change, which is to tackle the problems that we face today.
I am also pleased that former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov is a member of this high-level group, which provides great and unique opportunities to review the situation and adapt to it.
I would like once more to express my satisfaction at having the chance to be here and take part in this discussion.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you.