President Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, I am very happy to see you, and to see you this time as the Prime Minister of an independent state.
I am very pleased that we are seeing intensive development both of our political and economic relations. True, our bilateral trade is still quite modest in scale, but Russian investment is already estimated at more than $2 billion. I am very pleased to note that your Government is doing everything it can to encourage this kind of development.
It is a great pleasure to see you here. Welcome.
Milo Djukanovic: Mr President, it is a great honour for me to meet with you for the second time in the last two years. This is a chance to give a boost to our bilateral relations. Speaking here as a representative of independent Montenegro, I would particularly like to reiterate that it is our desire to see Montenegro develop as a democratic state. I am very pleased that Russia has given Montenegro great support and continues to do so today. In particular, Russia was the first big country to recognise our status and establish diplomatic relations following the proclamation of Montenegro’s independence.
Our relations go back a long way in history. In five years time we will celebrate the three-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries – relations that go back to 1711, when Peter the Great instructed the Russian ambassador to hand over his letters of credentials. I want to say that today we are continuing to develop these historic traditions.