President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good morning, Mr Prime Minister,
We spent all of yesterday working together. We have many bilateral matters to discuss, of course, and also the opportunity to take a closer look at current international issues.
We are very pleased that Britain has joined the Vienna group’s work. The latest tragic events, especially what happened in France, show that we simply have no choice but to join forces in fighting this evil, terrorism, and should have started uniting our efforts long ago.
Unfortunately, our bilateral relations are not going through the best time, but nonetheless, we do see signs that things are picking up a bit, including through our intergovernmental commission’s work.
Overall, we developed good cooperation mechanisms in the various areas in which we work together. I think we need to analyse all of the positive results achieved over this time, look to the future, and outline concrete plans for developing our relations.
I am very happy that we are able to have this bilateral meeting.
British Prime Minister David Cameron: Thank you very much, Mr President, Vladimir, it is good to have this opportunity to speak. First of all, once again, my condolences for the terrible loss of life of your citizens in the Sharm el-Sheikh airplane disaster. And as you said, we are meeting together after the appalling terrorist attacks in France, and it’s clear to me that we must work together to defeat this scourge of terrorism that is a threat to Britain, a threat to Russia, and a threat to us all. I’m sure we will discuss that and the situation in Syria this morning. And as you say, there is an opportunity to talk about our bilateral relationship as well. So, thank you for this opportunity.
Vladimir Putin: Thank you, David, for these condolences. This is a great and tragic loss for us. I want to thank you for your recent telephone call, when you shared your thoughts on the causes of this tragedy and passed on the information you received from the British intelligence services.
Thank you.
<…>