The meeting with students at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kiev took place within the framework of the official visit of the President of Russia to Ukraine.

The President instructed Anatoly Serdyukov to prepare a plan for developing the Black Sea Fleet's naval base in Sevastopol, and to conclude an agreement with Ukraine on developing social infrastructure there.

The President congratulated the meeting’s participants on the ratification by the Russian parliament and Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada of the Russian-Ukrainian agreement extending Russia’s lease of a naval base and presence of its Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory for 25 years.

The meeting summed up the results of the Defence Ministry’s work in 2009 and clarified its objectives for 2010.

The Russian delegation at the talks included Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Sergei Prikhodko, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin. The U.S. delegation included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Advisor James Jones, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.