OREANDA-NEWS. January 27, 2011.  Vladimir Putin: We discussed the full scope of our countries’ relations. Our dealings are diversified and range from space programmes and aircraft building to the energy sector, machine engineering, construction and joint work on Olympic venues. A Belgian company is working in Sochi already and is making a lot of progress. We discussed the possibility of involving Belgian companies in building the infrastructure for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. We touched upon the prospect of expanding our investment cooperation. All in all, I’d say it was a worthwhile and productive meeting.

Question: Did any representatives of Gazprom take part in the talks?
Vladimir Putin: Yes, there was a representative of Gazprom at the talks.
Question: Were any new projects discussed?

Vladimir Putin: We discussed building a natural gas reservoir and increasing gas supply to Belgium.

Question: Mr Putin, I’m sorry but I cannot let this question go unasked even if it is off-topic. Today is a day of mourning in Moscow. Over the past few days, the media, the internet community and society have been debating over how it all happened and why this terrorist attack was committed. Many assessments and commentaries go as far as to suggest sitting down to talk with terrorists. What do you think? How should the government and society respond? What is to be done?

Vladimir Putin: We discussed the issue of terrorism with our guest, Prime Minister Leterme. As for talks with whoever they are… We have never refused to hold talks with any political forces that wanted to resolve even the most complicated issues, and we did hold talks like this, even during the peak of the hostilities in Chechnya.

I’m sure that a dialogue like this played a part in resolving the situation in Chechnya. By the way, according to the preliminary data from the investigation, this terrorist attack was not connected with the Chechen Republic.

As for negotiating with terrorists, I would say that no nation in the world that respects itself would choose this path. And this is not only about the nation's self-respect. This is how the world fights against terrorism. As soon as you negotiate with terrorists, aggression and the number of terrorist acts surge, as does the number of victims.

This is why I would like to emphasise that this is the international practice. Negotiations with terrorists are not held. This is my first point.

My second point is about what the government has to do. Naturally, there is very much to do. We need to develop the social and economic conditions in the North Caucasus, and this is what we have been working on lately. We need to improve the performance of our law enforcement agencies and security services in every regard. We need to ensure the security of the transport infrastructure and other crowded places. We need to support traditional Islam in our Islamic republics. Naturally, we need to continue our restless fight against terrorism and extremism. As for society’s response, any healthy society with prospects for the future and strong roots in history – such as the multiethnic Russian society – will rally together when it is threatened and so strike back at thugs, terrorists and extremists. I am convinced this is what we will see in Russia.

Question: What is your point of view about the political situation in Belgium?
Vladimir Putin: I would like to say that we talked about the general details of this issue, and we both expressed the hope that Belgium’s leading political forces and Prime Minister Leterme would find a solution to this complicated issue. We understand that this is a very sensitive issue and that this uncertainty makes businesses ask certain questions: what’s next or how should we work with Belgium? But I would like to reiterate my confidence that common sense and the interests of a united nation to see Belgium a strong, self-sufficient and sovereign country – interests that I’m convinced the majority of Belgians share – will take the upper hand and that a compromise and mutually acceptable solutions will be reached. However, I would like to emphasise that this is an internal matter for Belgium.

Question: Do Europe and Russia need to cooperate more closely in the fight against terrorism?

Vladimir Putin: We are counting on that. Very soon, in the second half of February, we will have a meeting with the European Commission in Brussels. This issue is most likely going to be on our agenda.