President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, allow me to greet you.
I’d like to begin the meeting by noting that we are seeing some activation in our contacts in various areas. Recently, for the first time in several years, we held a meeting of the intergovernmental commission, there are contacts between our Security Council secretaries, and your Foreign Minister has visited Moscow.
But unfortunately, our trade has declined significantly, although I’m certain that there are good prospects, and our many joint projects are the best proof of this.
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe: (retranslated) I am very happy to be meeting with you today. As it happens, this is our eleventh meeting.
Recently, I was once again elected head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, and now we have a strong foundation for a calm discussion of the peace agreement issue, and I am ready to work on further developing our relations.
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