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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,

I am glad to see you and to welcome you to Moscow.

Together we celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the day when Russia recognised the Republic of Abkhazia. It is an important, historical event for the country, which is also significant for the Russian Federation.

I would like to note that over these years many things have changed in our relations. Intergovernmental ties have grown stronger. We consider our cooperation in ensuring the security of Abkhazia very important. This also goes for cooperation between the border services. I believe this work is very effective.

After our previous meeting, when you pointed to certain problems related to the need to increase the capacity at the border, the situation has improved, as we noted during our business lunch. I hope that we will continue to move in this direction, thus strengthening the external perimeter and removing excessive red tape at the checkpoints between Abkhazia and Russia.

We continue promoting our cooperation in the economy and in developing infrastructure. I hope that we will discuss it in detail now.

President of Abkhazia Raul Khadjimba: Mr President,

Thank you for your invitation.

The recognition of our country means that the long-time dream of the Abkhazian people has come true. Of course, it is an important event for us.

Today we can state that over 130 bilateral documents have been signed that help us to resolve issues in various areas, such as the socioeconomic development of Abkhazia, cooperation between law enforcement agencies and in our foreign policy. We are working in coordination with the Russian Foreign Ministry.

There is no doubt that the situation around these issues has changed completely after we signed the Agreement on Alliance and Strategic Partnership. I would like us to work even more intensively on socioeconomic issues, foreign policy and opportunities for defence and security.

I hope that our meeting today will help resolve many of these issues.

Thank you.

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