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On the Russian side the meeting was attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin and Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, colleagues,

I am very pleased to meet you and continue our dialogue that we have already started by phone.

Naturally, we paid attention to the statement you made immediately after you were elected President, notably, on readiness to conduct dialogue with all interested countries, including Russia and other northern neighbours.

The Republic of Korea ranks fourth in trade with Russia in the Asia-Pacific region. We had a small decline but we are witnessing decent growth in the first quarter – 36 percent.

North Korea’s nuclear programme is certainly a very urgent issue. The main point here is not to lose self-control. It is necessary to act pragmatically and carefully.

I am glad to have this opportunity to discuss all these issues with you.

President of South Korea Moon Jae-in (retranslated): Thank you very much for your kind words. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your call following my election as President. And thank you for receiving my Special Envoy Song Young-gil.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for your invitation to Vladivostok next September to take part in the third Eastern Economic Forum.

I would also like to invite you to visit us in Korea. Please come to our country as soon as possible. For us this is a very good opportunity to discuss all issues between our countries.

I am very interested in cooperation on developing the Far Eastern Region of the Russian Federation and the Northern Sea Route.

And, as you observed, the North Korean provocation, this missile provocation is a threat not only to the Korean Peninsula but also to the entire region of Northeast Asia.

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