OREANDA-NEWS. June 22, 2009. Dmitry Medvedev spoke with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Jan Peter Balkenende, and negotiations then continued between the delegations of the two countries.

Topical issues of Russian-Dutch cooperation in trade and the economy were among the subjects discussed.

Following the talks Mr Medvedev and Mr Balkenende gave a joint news conference.

Beginning of Russian-Dutch Talks:

PRIME MINISTER OF THE NETHERLANDS JAN PETER BALKENENDE (as translated into Russian): Mr President, members of the Russian delegation,

I am delighted that you could all be here today. We were very pleased to attend the opening of Hermitage Amsterdam yesterday evening.

It is a great honour for us, Mr President, to welcome you to the Netherlands. This is a sign of the cooperation between our two countries. Our contacts are of a political, social and cultural nature. I'm very pleased that we have met here today.

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Dear Mr Prime Minister, distinguished colleagues,

I completely agree with that assessment of yesterday's event: it was excellent and reflects the splendid contacts that exist between Russia and the Netherlands in the field of culture.

It seems to me that our brief visit reflects the whole range of relations between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, because we are involved in major, outstanding cultural projects, and at the same time we have very important and far-reaching business contacts and economic projects that have enjoyed very considerable success. Suffice it to say that this year at Sakhalin a Russian-Dutch multilateral project was launched that is rich in significance: I'm referring to the plant for liquefying natural gas. We have other important, large-scale plans that we will be implementing. By the way, today we will be meeting with business leaders and discussing these plans. This is very important, especially at a time of crisis.

I am very pleased to meet you and ready to get to work.