Official website of the President of Russia

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Bilateral relations were the main subject on the agenda, in particular, developing trade and investment cooperation.

The two leaders also exchanged views on current international and regional issues.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Prime Minister. It is a great pleasure to see you in Moscow.

Let me say that our common efforts have succeeded in changing the situation in the trade and economic sector for the better, not by much as yet, but nonetheless.

We saw a slight increase of around 2 percent in bilateral trade last year. Your Government’s efforts meant that this increase was mostly thanks to growing exports from Serbia to Russia. Some sectors were leaders in this, agriculture, for example, with an increase of around 40 percent.

We have good joint projects that are developing actively, especially in the energy sector. I am sure we will discuss all of this today.

Of course, we know that Serbia will soon hold presidential elections. We are sure that in today’s Serbia, in today’s conditions, this election will be of the highest standard, and we wish good luck to the current authorities.

No matter how the political situation develops, we are sure that our bilateral relations will continue to develop just as positively, in the spirit of friendship that has characterised our ties over these last years.

Of course, we very much want to discuss with you the situation in the region today, because various outside signs suggest that a degree of escalation is taking place. We would like to discuss all of this with you today.

Welcome.

Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic: Mr President, thank you for the warm reception and for your hospitality.

I want to say that we need to thank you personally and the Russian Federation for supporting the Republic of Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. As you said, I hope and am sure that we will have plenty of opportunities to increase our bilateral trade and economic ties.

We will discuss the situation in the region. I think that this is important for both countries. It is very important that, as you know, we remain committed to our national independence, freedom and military neutrality. We will discuss together all of this and examine the steps we need to take for the future.

Once again, thank you very much for your friendship. I am absolutely certain that we will take our relations to a very high level. Thank you once again for this very warm reception.

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