President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: The summit of the NATO-Russia Council has just taken place and was very constructive in spirit.
We agreed that there are many areas in which we are working together successfully, and I hope this cooperation will continue.
We have got through the difficult patch in our relations. We have wide-ranging plans now, and we hope to work in all areas, including European missile defence, as this NATO-Russia Council meeting has just demonstrated.
I want to say a separate thanks to you, Silvio, for your consistently friendly and constructive role. You are a very experienced politician.
Looking back at where we started from and recalling the difficulties we have gone through, I think that we have achieved good results. Russian-Italian relations could serve as an example of ideal cooperation between Russia and the countries in the EU and NATO.
Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi (retranslated): Thank you very much, Dmitry.
We were all eagerly awaiting your arrival today. It must be said that you are the person who has really taken a committed line towards making the decisions needed to renew relations between Russia and NATO after the difficult period they went through. I saw myself how you pursued this goal right from the start.
I remember the long telephone conversation we had in 2009, when I was on my way to the summit in Corfu, and you called me then to publicly announce your intention to continue cooperation with NATO in the spirit that was expressed at Pratica di Mare.
I want to say a personal thank you to you, and I think that all our colleagues, all the NATO leaders, should thank you for taking this decision. The process is moving forward now.
We can say now that we have put the spectres of the Cold War behind us. We have got over them now, and we therefore think that we can work towards a confident and secure future for ourselves and our children.
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