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President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to welcome you to the Kremlin for this letters of credence presentation ceremony. This ceremony marks the moment when you officially begin your diplomatic missions in our country. I sincerely hope that your work here will be successful and will help to strengthen trust and build up our bilateral cooperation.

You are beginning your missions at an exceptionally difficult and important time for international relations, for our relations. The financial and economic crisis is proving a serious trial for all countries. We realise that no comprehensive solution to all of the problems we face has yet been found. But one thing is already absolutely clear. We can resolve these problems only through a combined effort, only by renouncing national egoism and taking effective and coordinated measures together. There is really no alternative to this kind of cooperation and joining of forces today.

One of the big problems the world faces today is energy security. The Russian Federation recently proposed a new initiative on creating a modern legal framework for international cooperation in this area. At the recent Russia-European Union summit in Khabarovsk we discussed this document with our partners, and it seems to me that we reached a common understanding on this issue.

I also hope to pursue constructive dialogue on another of the Russian Federation’s initiatives – the treaty on European security. The objective here is very clear. We want to do away with the remnants of the Cold War and guarantee the countries of the Euro-Atlantic region equal security, and in so doing free up extra resources for pressing economic, environmental and other problems, with which you are all very familiar.

Overall, our country hopes for a positive and unifying international affairs agenda and we are open to the broadest possible cooperation with our international partners.

I would like to say a few words now about our bilateral relations. We are pleased to see the development in our traditionally friendly ties with the Kingdom of Morocco, and we hope to continue expanding our political and business relations, especially in the energy and fishing sectors, and in other sectors too of course. We are also interested in building up our tourism and humanitarian ties.

We greatly value our cooperation with Serbia, one of our key partners in southeast Europe. Our active political contacts are bolstered today by joint implementation of big oil and gas projects that will increase energy security in the Balkans and in Europe as a whole. We will continue to coordinate our foreign policy approaches, including as concerns ensuring a fair solution to the problem of Kosovo based on international law.

The peoples of Russia and Moldova are bound by long centuries of friendship and a common history and culture. It is in our common interests to make our partnership more effective and build up our cooperation on the international stage, including in the Commonwealth of Independent States. I want to say too that we consider any attempts to undermine Moldova’s identity and sovereignty unacceptable. We will support Moldova’s leadership in its efforts to normalise the situation and create the conditions for effective government in order to resolve the country’s development problems. We will continue to contribute to international mediation efforts to facilitate work on a fair solution to the Trans-Dniester issue.

Russia is interested in strengthening its cooperation with the Swiss Confederation. We respect Switzerland’s neutrality, and Russia was one of the guarantors of this neutrality at the start of the nineteenth century. We value Swiss diplomacy’s tradition of mediation and its efforts to support peace and stability. I am sure that the first visit by the President of the Russian Federation to Switzerland in the history of our relations will give new impetus to our cooperation.

We hope for constructive dialogue with Latvia on the basis of mutual respect and real consideration of each other’s interests. We have rich experience of cooperation in a wide range of areas. This is a valuable asset, and we need to use it to build a climate of mutual understanding and good-neighbourliness in the Baltic region. The situation of our compatriots living in Latvia remains one of our priorities. We think that all European human rights standards should apply to them too, including the right to full and equal participation in the country’s political and public life.

I am happy to see the rapid development of our historically close and friendly relations with one of the European Union’s leaders – France. Our relations today take the form of a strategic partnership. I highly value the candid dialogue and regular working meetings with the French President. They enable us to work together effectively in global and European affairs, in security issues and conflict resolution. We want to encourage investment, mutual investment, and take our trade and economic cooperation to a completely new level, especially in the high-technology sectors. Next year, we will hold national years of each other’s culture, and these events will enrich our bilateral cultural ties.

We place great importance on expanding our cooperation with Brunei Darussalam. The visit by His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah in October will give a big boost to our ties.

We welcome active cooperation with the Republic of Costa Rica, one of our promising partners in Central America.

Through our joint efforts we can guarantee and build on our traditionally friendly ties with Laos. We greatly value the steps the Laotian government is taking to promote the country’s social and economic development, and we wish you success in this work.

We seek a new quality in our mutually advantageous partnership with Japan. Constructive cooperation between Russia and Japan plays an important part in guaranteeing stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region. We will continue talks on a mutually acceptable solution to the peace treaty issue. But at the same time, we cannot ignore recent attempts by our Japanese partners to question Russia’s sovereignty over the Kuril Islands, using unilateral and unacceptable evaluations outside the legal framework. These kinds of attempts do not facilitate continued negotiations, and this is a matter that we should pay attention to. I hope that Tokyo will make a suitable response to the situation and draw the right conclusions.

We want to continue developing our mutually advantageous relations with the Republic of Sierra Leone. We welcome the end to the instability there and the readiness to focus now on restoring the country’s democratic institutions and economy.

Russia seeks to strengthen its ties with the Republic of Djibouti. I am sure that our cooperation will help to bolster peace and security in the Horn of Africa.

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope that, together with your Russian partners, you will do everything you can to build up the friendship and partnership between our countries and peoples.

Thank you for your attention.