President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Ladies and Gentlemen,
I welcome you to this official ceremony here in the Kremlin. You are entering a new stage in your diplomatic service, and I wish you success.
Today, it is particularly important for all of us, without exception, to look for ways to overcome the global economic crisis. Given the global nature of this crisis, countries cannot fight it individually. We are all joining forces against it.
On the agenda today is the task of building a new financial architecture that I hope will be more effective and successful than the present one, and will become the cornerstone for our efforts to resolve the most complex problems, efforts based on international law and consideration of all countries’ interests.
We hope that the G20 summit in London will see us take a real step forward towards reforming the international financial institutions. I am sure that in this respect we can count on coordinated work with our partners in the international community.
Similar collective efforts are needed to establish an improved European security system. It is no secret that the existing European security system has demonstrated its weakness in some areas of late. This is why, motivated by a desire to support peace and stability on the European continent, Russia has proposed concluding a new treaty on European security. We are happy that our partners have shown interest in our proposals, and we invite them to continue these discussions during our talks.
Gentlemen, Russia seeks wide-ranging and constructive cooperation with the countries you represent, and I think that during your work here you will be able to contribute to this process.
Russia’s relations with the Republic of Singapore are showing dynamic growth. I am grateful for the invitation I have received to visit Singapore during the APEC summit. I hope that this visit, which will be the first in the history of our relations, will help to expand our bilateral ties.
We seek to strengthen our multifaceted ties with Norway, our good neighbour to the north. We plan to continue building up our partnership, including in the energy sector. Russia and Norway have very broad scope for developing bilateral relations through cooperation in the Arctic. I plan to discuss all of these matters with Prime Minister Stoltenberg when he comes to Moscow in May.
We are committed to developing our relations with the State of Qatar, and building up our political cooperation and effective cooperation in trade, investment, and, as part of the group of gas-exporting countries, in close work together to ensure stability on the world energy market.
Our country hopes to establish a constructive dialogue with the Republic of Lithuania based on mutual respect of each other and consideration for each other’s interests.
We have fast-growing and friendly relations with the United Arab Emirates. We have built up steady cooperation on international issues, on the situation in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region, and our bilateral trade and economic relations are also picking up the pace. We also place great importance on pursuing our dialogue in the energy sector.
Russia is engaged in an open and mutually beneficial dialogue with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Promising energy projects have an important part to play in our relations. I stress too that Russia is one of the guarantors of the peace agreements on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia will continue to help consolidate peace and stability in this country and in the region as a whole.
Our relations with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela have taken on the nature of a genuine partnership. This was confirmed by the Russian-Venezuelan talks in July and September in Russia, and in November 2008, in Venezuela.
Russia greatly values its friendship with Kazakhstan, its strategic ally. Our partnership is growing in scale with every passing year and we are enriching it with ever-new important projects. We also continue our active cooperation on the international stage within the CIS, EurAsEC [Eurasian Economic Community], CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organisation], SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organisation], Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, and of course, in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations and the OSCE.
Russia seeks to strengthen its political dialogue and develop trade and economic cooperation with Croatia. Our humanitarian contacts are showing good development and the number of Russian tourists visiting Croatia is increasing every year.
The Republic of Hungary is an important partner for Russia in Central and Eastern Europe. We have had considerable success in practically all different areas over these last years, and today it is important to continue building on this cooperation.
We value our longstanding friendship with Uganda. I hope that these friendly ties will form a solid foundation upon which we can continue developing mutually advantageous relations.
Russia values its longstanding and dependable partnership with Greece. We hope to continue our productive dialogue in all areas, and we wish Greece success of course during its presidency of the OSCE this year. Coordination of approaches on the most important international issues will without a doubt contribute to stability in Europe.
Russia’s relations with Uzbekistan are based on the principles of strategic partnership and alliance. I had a chance to see once again just what great potential our relations have during my state visit to Uzbekistan in January. This visit affirmed our mutual desire for all-round active development of our bilateral ties.
Gentlemen, I am sure that you will put every effort into taking cooperation with Russia to new levels and ensuring that it meets our common interests and possibilities. Your Russian partners are ready in turn to give you every possible help in this work.
Once again, I wish you success and I thank you for your attention.