Official website of the President of Russia

Transcripts   /

President Vladimir Putin: Mr President,

Allow me once again to welcome you to Russia, to Sochi. It gives me great pleasure to be able to receive you in such an informal setting. I hope that back at home you will tell everyone that we have all the conditions to also offer your son a fine reception here. I visited him at his home, and I hope he will also be able to come here, to the south of Russia.

But I must say, Mr President, that you have a good reputation of your own here in Russia. You are one of the fathers of the current good relations between Russia and the United States. You were directly involved in bringing into force the START-1 and START-2 Treaties. I had the opportunity of meeting with former presidents of the United States while I was still working in St. Petersburg, and I think it is a very good tradition to have people with such experience continuing to work for the good of their country.

I do hope that you enjoyed your time in St. Petersburg. I am also very interested in hearing your view on how the seminar between Russian and American business circles went.