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President Vladimir Putin: Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me genuine pleasure to receive in Moscow the President of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbek Salievich Bakiev. It is symbolic that you have chosen our country for your first official visit abroad as head of state. This is yet another sign of the particular trust that underlies the relations between our two countries.

We discussed in detail a wide range of issues during out talks and we reaffirmed our common desire to develop our bilateral relations in every area. This position is reflected in the Joint Declaration that we adopted following our talks.

We gave priority attention to economic cooperation. Russia today accounts for almost 30 percent – a little more than 27 percent – of Kyrgyzstan’s foreign trade. We are pleased to see that our bilateral trade is increasing. It already exceeds half a billion dollars now and it increased by 41 percent over the first two months of this year compared to the same period last year. We have agreed to pursue more actively joint projects in our traditional sectors – the energy and machine-building sectors, light industry and the food processing sector. I think there are also excellent prospects for investment cooperation and for work together in small and medium business. Total Russian investment in Kyrgyzstan’s economy is minimal so far.

Furthermore, our specialists are examining opportunities for closer military-technical cooperation.

One of our biggest priorities is to develop humanitarian contacts. We have considerable and to a great extent still unused potential for cooperation in science, culture, education and youth exchanges. Most importantly, our peoples share a sincere desire for closer relations and mutual spiritual enrichment. This was precisely the keynote of discussion between the Russian and Kyrgyz partners at the recent CIS Artistic and Scientific Communities’ Forum that took place in Moscow. We paid particular attention to the issue of training specialists from Kyrgyzstan in Russian universities, and the President particularly noted this point today. I want to stress once again how greatly we value the Kyrgyzstan leadership’s position of principle regarding the Russian language, which has the status of official language in the country. This gives the citizens of both countries greater opportunities for exchange of information, for receiving education and for developing academic and cultural ties.

Regional and international issues, above all the consolidation of peace and security in Central Asia, were also an important part of our talks. We agreed to intensify our cooperation in prevention of terrorism and in combating cross-border crime and drugs trafficking. In particular, we plan to hold joint anti-terrorist exercises this year. We also intend to make active use of multilateral mechanisms such as the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that have already been put to the test and have proved their worth. One of our priorities is to continue equipping and developing our military base in Kant. This is a mobile and operational component of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation’s rapid deployment forces in the Central Asian region. We have an interest in developing this resource and we will continue this work.

Russia and Kyrgyzstan are consistent in their support for developing relations within the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Community. We have been able to see on more than one occasion that this helps us resolve common problems more effectively and works in the interests and prosperity of all our citizens.

Summing up the main results of this meeting with the President of Kyrgyzstan, I would once again like to note the spirit of trust present in our talks. I am convinced that it is precisely this spirit of trust that is one of the most solid foundations of relations between our two countries, relations that have always been, and that I am sure always will be, friendly, sincere and based on partnership.

Thank you for your attention.

Kurmanbek Bakiev: Thank you.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Vladimir Vladimirovich and I have just held detailed talks on current issues in Kyrgyz-Russian bilateral and multilateral cooperation and have exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual interest.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Vladimir Vladimirovich and our Russian colleagues for the warm reception and the attention given to our delegation.

I would like to stress that our talks took place in an atmosphere of complete trust and understanding that is characteristic of the relations between our two countries. I said to Vladimir Vladimirovich, and I would like to say again to you now, that Russia has a reliable friend and loyal ally in Kyrgyzstan, a friend and ally that is committed to developing a strategic partnership with Russia and pursuing rapid development in all areas of our bilateral cooperation.

At the same time, we expressed the view that our two countries have considerable trade and economic potential that we should make greater use of. I would like to highlight that our future development will focus on carrying out joint economic projects in areas such as the energy sector, industry, transport, communications and tourism.

We also had an exchange of views on cooperation within various international and regional organisations including the United Nations, the CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Eurasian Economic Community in which we work closely together. We affirmed the importance and relevance of our cooperation in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation. The relevance of this cooperation can be seen in the combat against international terrorism, religious extremism, drugs trafficking and organised crime. The stationing of the Russian Air Force base in Kant as part of the collective rapid deployment forces contributes to security and stability not only in Kyrgyzstan but throughout Central Asia.

In conclusion, I would like to say that the results of today’s talks and the agreements we reached reflect the Republic of Kyrgyzstan’s and the Russian Federation’s common desire to develop their cooperation in every area in the interests of both our peoples.

Thank you for your attention.