President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Minister, I am happy to make your acquaintance and to welcome you to Moscow.
I know that you have had substantial discussions with your counterpart here in the Russian Government.
Russian-American financial and economic relations are strategic in nature. This point was made in particular not so long ago, when the Sochi Declaration was signed. We will continue to do everything within our power to give these relations real substance. Of course, the financial and economic situation inevitably has an impact on the nature and content of these relations, and I am therefore very interested in hearing what you have to say about the current financial situation in the United States and the state of world finances in general.
The G8 summit will take place in a few days time. We will discuss there the global liquidity situation, the financial situation and ways to overcome the crisis. In this context, it would be very interesting to discuss these issues with you today too.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson: Mr President, it is a great honour to meet with you here in Moscow. As you said, I have had plenty of opportunity during this visit and on other occasions to exchange views with Minister Kudrin [Russian Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin]. I think that my dinner with Mr Kudrin, business leaders and the owners of big American and Russian companies gave us the chance to discuss the growing economic trade and commercial relations between our countries.
We also welcome the growing investment: American investment in Russia and vice versa. We welcome the growing trade and commercial relations between our countries and, most importantly, we welcome Russia’s forthcoming accession to the WTO.