OREANDA-NEWS. November 15, 2012. PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, Nicolas,

It is a great pleasure to see you. I am very happy that you have found the opportunity to come to Moscow. I have warm recollections of our work together on resolving quite serious issues concerning the development of relations between our countries and the ties between Russia and Europe.

I am very pleased to see that relations between Russia and France continue their steady development under the new President. In this sense we see continuity in policy, and this makes us very happy. You know how much value we place on Russian-French relations, and so we are grateful to you for the contribution you made as President to our work together.

I wish you welcome.

NICOLAS SARKOZY (translated from Russian): Thank you for inviting me, Vladimir. I remember our meetings here very well. You even drove us around then.

You know, I have always taken the view that Russia is Europe’s natural partner. We belong to the same continent and there is much that we can do together.

You recalled the friendly times and the more difficult moments that we went through together. We succeeded every time in overcoming the difficulties thanks to the trust and friendship between us. Looking back over that period, we see that much positive work was accomplished for Russia and for Europe. I see that our meeting is of interest to many.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: Thank you for your interest.