President Vladimir Putin:
Mr President,
Mr Prime Minister,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to have this chance to visit Portugal once again.
Today’s talks show that we remain committed to a spirit of friendship and partnership in our contacts and that we are seeking new opportunities for developing our relations. The President just said a few words about the history of our relations, and indeed, our ties do have centuries behind them now.
Our relations have always been based on fine traditions of friendship, mutual respect and trust. Both Russia and Portugal lovingly preserve this heritage.
We do indeed share common values and similar approaches to resolving the most complex issues.
Our capital cities also have much in common. Moscow and Lisbon both have the same heavenly protector – St George. Both cities, like Rome and Constantinople, are built upon seven hills.
There are no differences and no bilateral problems between our countries. We discuss all matters of interest to us in a spirit of understanding and take each other’s interests into account. It gives me great pleasure to note that the current President of Portugal has made an important contribution to developing our relations and signed the Friendship and Cooperation Agreement in 1994. This document remains the solid foundation of our relations today.
We are pleased to see the confident and consistent development of our intergovernmental ties in the economy, politics and relations and contacts between our peoples in general.
I would like to express my confidence that friendship and constructive cooperation will continue to define the nature of relations between our countries and peoples.
Allow me to raise a toast:
May the peoples of Russia and Portugal prosper and flourish!
Good health to the President, his wife, and everyone present!
Thank you for your hospitality.