Official website of the President of Russia

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Vladimir Putin: Dear Federal Chancellor!

Allow me to greet you warmly.

We all know what difficult developments in internal politics have taken place in Germany. Nevertheless, you found the time to come to Russia today. I think that in addition to the congratulations you have already given me, we will have the opportunity to discuss the state of our bilateral relations. By this I mean that we would want contacts through summits and between our ministries and departments to continue despite internal political events. And I will inform you of the results of the EU-Russia summit which recently took place in London.

Gerhard Schroeder (translated from Russian): Dear President Putin!

It is for two reasons that I take great pleasure in coming to Russia.

First, I wanted to say that everyone with whom I spoke is deeply convinced that, regardless of any changes that might take place within our country, the important level of continuity in Russian-German relations will be maintained. All are deeply convinced that the development of Russian-German and Russian-European relations holds great strategic value.

There is a high probability that the two largest German parties will form a coalition government. We must still discuss the details of how this will actually take place thoroughly and carefully with our partners. But certainly, I will take advantage of this opportunity to tell you about it.

I came here with great pleasure to transmit my best wishes to the President of Russia on his birthday. It is the second reason for my visit. Both in light of historical experience and the requirements of today's world, we recognize your pledge to create relations of outstanding quality between our countries.