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After a conversation in restricted format, the talks continued in the working breakfast format.

Following international consultations, the presidents of the two countries made statements for the press.

In addition, a Joint Declaration was adopted on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Mongolia.

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Beginning of talks with President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President,

First of all, I would like to thank you for accepting the invitation to come to Russia. As far as I know, this is your first foreign visit since your election. It is a good sign.

Your visit is taking place in the year of the 100^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries, which are based on the Treaty on Friendly Relations and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that we signed several years ago.

Moreover, our relations are developing in nearly all spheres, despite the pandemic, including the economy, political ties, in the area of military cooperation and on the international stage.

I know that you have a very busy agenda during your trip to Russia. I am confident that your visit will be successful and will yield good results.

Regarding the economy, our trade went down by 20 percent last year because of the pandemic, but in the first three quarters of this year it increased by approximately 25 percent. There are reasons to believe that we will return to the pre-pandemic level and that we can surpass it.

Mr President, I am delighted to see you. Welcome.

President of Mongolia Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh (retranslated): Thank you very much, Mr President.

I am very happy that after the presidential election in Mongolia, my first visit abroad is to the Russian Federation.

I also want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to organise my visit as part of celebrations of our historical anniversary, the 100^th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Mongolia and Russia, despite the difficulties the pandemic continues to pose, unfortunately, all over the world.

I believe that our relations are truly historical, remarkable and good. A hundred years ago, representatives of our country arrived in Moscow, and we fought together for the independence of our country and sovereignty. During the hard years of war and in the post-war times, our peoples worked together and wrote this great history.

They did so during the Battles on the Khalkhin Gol in 1939, and during the Great Patriotic War. As you know, we have great respect for the historical role Russia played during those times. We believe that Russia played an important role in global security and in the victory over Nazism. This is why we highly respect the Great Victory holiday.

Over the past years, we have had a rich history together. We cooperated closely with the Soviet people in the Virgin Lands campaign and in the construction of large industrial facilities; we even went into space together. At the moment, we do not have any political disagreements and have had truly brotherly relations for the past 100 years. The Mongolian people feel that our friendship and comradeship are an example of good relations not only in our region, but in the world in general.

Prior to my visit, we had several important meetings, in particular, with deputy prime ministers Alexei Overchuk and Viktoria Abramchenko. A regular meeting of the intergovernmental commission was held. The Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces also visited our country. Many economic issues were dealt with before my visit to Russia.

We believe the time has come for us to talk about new undertakings in our relations.

I would also like to stress that during the years of your work as President and Prime Minister, relations between our countries have been actively developing. You have visited our country four times. The Mongolian people and our country as a whole have very friendly feelings, respectively, for the Russian people and for you personally.

There is one question though about promoting trade and economic relations between our countries. When I took office as President, I set myself the goal of implementing the Transit Mongolia national project. I believe that, as part of this project, coordination with the initiative you mentioned – the creation of the Greater Eurasian Partnership – is also very important. We strongly support this initiative.

We live in a region that connects Asia with Europe and Russia with China. The Mongolian-Russian border is over 3,500 kilometres long, and our border with China is 4,700 kilometres. We are also closely following relations between our two great neighbours, Russia and China. Yesterday, you had a meeting with the head of the People's Republic of China [Xi Jinping], and we are observing your cooperation with great interest, and I think the whole world also pays great attention to it.

That is why we are putting forward the initiative to promote the Transit Mongolia programme, since the shortest route connecting Europe with Asia and Russia with China passes through our territory.

Our plans include the construction of two railways – eastern and western – which run through the eastern and western parts of our country. On the eastern side, this railway connects China with the Trans-Baikal Territory and goes to Far Eastern ports. And in the western direction, this railway continues the Kyzyl-Kuragino Railway and goes further across our territory to China.

We also have a question about upgrading the central railway corridor that runs through Irkutsk.

We are very pleased with the results of the project to build a gas pipeline from Russia to China across Mongolia.

In 2019, as Prime Minister, when I was in the Russian Federation on a visit, you and I, Mr President, initiated this project. I am very pleased that this project is a success.

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