Official website of the President of Russia

Transcripts   /

President Vladimir Putin: Welcome to Russia, dear Mr Prime Minister. I am very grateful to you for accepting my invitation.

I think that this meeting is fully justified. Cooperation between Russia and Turkey has been constantly increasing over recent years. The same is true for our trade and economic turnover, which now exceeds $10 billion. We have set ourselves the realistic goal of raising trade between our countries to the $25 billion-mark over the next few years. We are interested not only in trade but also in investment activity and cooperation in the energy and high-technology sectors. We have common tasks in many areas that we could resolve effectively together.

Our political dialogue is at a good level. I would be interested to hear your opinion on the situation in the region, in Iraq. In general, we have a lot of different subjects to discuss today.

I am very happy to see you. Welcome.

Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan (translated from Russian): First of all, I would like to say how glad I am to be able to have a working dinner today with my friend the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. I would like to pass on to you greetings from our people to the friendly people of the Russian Federation.

Political, economic and cultural relations between the Russian Federation and Turkey have undergone significant changes, especially over the last two-and-a-half-three years. I am sure that they will only continue to grow and develop in the future. The relations we are building up between our countries today – our political, trade and cultural ties, including tourism – show just what potential there is for their future development. There is no doubt that the steps we have taken in the energy sector are of great importance. I think that we do indeed have plenty to work on together.

Thank you very much.