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President Vladimir Putin:

Gentlemen,

I am happy to welcome you, who have been entrusted with representing the interests of your countries in the Russian Federation.

You have much responsible work ahead of you, work to further the political dialogue between our countries, to expand our trade, economic and cultural ties, and, of course, work to develop direct contacts between people.

I hope that you will achieve the noble aims of your diplomatic missions.

You are beginning your work here at a difficult time. Russia and the international community are confronted with a dramatic rise in international terrorism. In this connection, I would like once again to give my sincere thanks to the governments and citizens of your countries for their solidarity during the tragic events in Beslan.

Terrorists attempt to destabilise not only individual countries but also entire regions of the world. They try to influence geopolitical processes, set peoples against each other and feed off social problems.

Terrorism has a destructive effect in every sphere of life and on every country.

This is why we so insistently repeat that we can only fight terrorists effectively if we join forces.

The lessons of history show that no one can hope to wait out the danger by sitting in the trenches. Likewise, attempts to make advances to terrorists, pursue plans seeking only the benefit of the moment, and similar lines of conduct, are unacceptable.

International solidarity and a refusal to allow any kind of double standards are essential.

It is important not only to neutralise the terrorists themselves but also to completely isolate their political lobbyists and those who inspire their ideas.

This approach lies at the foundation of the anti-terrorist initiatives that Russia has proposed to the current session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Dear gentlemen, our country is pursuing a dynamic foreign policy based on our national development objectives. We make a constructive contribution to resolving global and regional problems. The genuine partnership relations that we have with the countries you represent are of great significance to us in this work.

I would like to note that the traditionally friendly ties between Russia and Peru have begun developing more actively. We are satisfied with the way our political dialogue is developing and we aim for consistent expansion of our trade and economic cooperation.

Russian-Chilean relations have also been developing positively. We do still have plenty of room, however, to increase our bilateral cooperation in a very wide range of areas. The Asian-Pacific Cooperation Forum summit that will take place in Chile this November and the Russian-Chilean summit that will precede it will give us good opportunities to build up our relations.

We value our traditionally friendly relations with the Republic of Zambia. I am certain that today it is important that we make more effective use of the experience in cooperation that our two countries have. Of course, we must also work together to look for new opportunities to develop mutually beneficial ties in various areas.

The signature of a basic political agreement between Russia and Romania has opened the door to many new opportunities for long-term cooperation between our countries. Our two countries already have to their assets many years of fruitful economic, scientific and cultural cooperation. The peoples of both our countries have a clear interest in developing the ties between us.

Longstanding traditions of friendship and fruitful cooperation bind Russia and the Republic of Nigeria. Nigeria has considerable authority and influence on the African continent.

Through our work together we have been able to activate our bilateral ties over recent years and Russia intends to continue in this direction.

We value the friendship that has developed between Russia and Bolivia. We hope to increase our trade and economic cooperation and build up our ties in other areas.

Our friendly ties with Ecuador are developing and growing stronger with every passing year. I would particularly like to note the successful development of our political dialogue and economic cooperation. I am sure that we can achieve a great deal together and make our cooperation even more fruitful.

The peoples of Russia and Spain are traditionally bound by feelings of mutual respect and trust. Now our agenda is to further our cooperation in such priority areas as the energy sector, investment, trade and tourism. Of course, that is not a complete list of all our mutual interests. Overall, we are interested in developing our relations in a broad range of political, economic and social and cultural areas.

In conclusion, from the depths of my heart I wish you successful work in Moscow and I offer my best wishes to you and your families.

Thank you for your attention.