OREANDA-NEWS.   Vladimir Putin met with President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai in Shanghai.

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Mr President, I am very pleased to see you and to have the opportunity to exchange views about developing our bilateral relations, as well as the situation in the region.

There were different periods in the history of relations between our nations, but ultimately, the main trend in our relationship has always been an aspiration toward good neighbourly relations and developing cooperation. In recent years, with your direct participation and support, we have built very neighbourly, friendly relations, seeking ways to develop our contacts in the economic, political and humanitarian sectors. Thanks to your efforts, Afghanistan has made great strides in stabilising the domestic situation, developing the economic and social spheres, and building its armed forces. You have also done a great deal to successfully hold the first phase of the presidential election campaign.

I want to thank you for our joint work in recent years and express my hope that the second phase of the elections will be achieved and your successor will do everything to continue all that you have done to build Russian-Afghanistani relations.

PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN HAMID KARZAI (retranslated): Thank you, Mr President.

I am happy to be here today. As a citizen of Afghanistan, I would like to say that I am happy the historical relationship between Russia and Afghanistan has been restored. I would like to note your exceptional role in the development of these relations, in the fact that when participating in the international community, you helped us overcome the difficult situation we found ourselves in and achieve the state of affairs we are reaching today.

I want to thank you for understanding the difficult situation we found ourselves in and helping us further develop our nation.