Official website of the President of Russia

Transcripts   /

President Hugo Chavez (Retranslated from Russian): Mr President,

I would like to say that it is a great honour for us to receive you here.

I want you to know that Venezuela is a strategic ally of Russia. The peoples of the world are grateful to Russia for its contribution to the establishment of a multipolar world. It is therefore a very positive fact that you are now on the soil of Latin America. Lima, Brasilia, Caracas and then Havana – I have told you that your presence here is very significant. We have even sung your national anthem in Russian.

Welcome, our great friend Dmitry.

President Dmitry Medvedev: Mr President,

It is a great pleasure for my colleagues and for myself to be here in Venezuela. For me it is also a special honour, because I am the first Russian leader to visit Venezuela. I believe this is a symbol of friendship and good partnership relations between our countries.

We have visited several Latin American countries on our way here and believe that Latin America is a special region for Russia. It is a part of the world where we have friends. And Venezuela, as well as our friend President Chavez, is one of our closest partners among these countries.

We also want a multipolar world, a diversified world, which our peoples will find a good place to live in, and this is why we have come to visit our friends in Venezuela.

The world is not in a very comfortable position now: an economic crisis has hit most of the developed countries, and we must seek joint answers to this challenge.

Thank you for your invitation to visit the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.