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Putin Says France Important Partner of Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin said here Thursday that France is "a traditional, leading and irreplaceable partner of Russia" and that Moscow attaches great significance to enhancing ties with Paris.
"Developing relations and cooperation with France and the European Union is a priority of Russia's foreign policy, and we will push ahead with such a partnership," Putin told a meeting in the Kremlin with French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine, who arrived here Wednesday evening for a three-day visit.
The French minister's visit to Moscow is the start of a series of bilateral contacts. "We hope the contacts will promote Russia's relations with France and the European community," Putin said.
Vedrine said that he had come to Moscow not only as French foreign minister, but also as representative of a country presiding the European Union.
He expressed hope that the Moscow negotiations will help prepare Putin's first official visit to France and attendance of the Russia-EU summit, scheduled for October 30-November 1.
On the same day, Vedrine also held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. After their meeting, Ivanov announced that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov will visit France in mid-December.
The ministers discussed trade and economic ties between the two states, global strategic stability, the situation in the Balkans and Iraq as well as the Middle East peaceful process.
Ivanov stressed that the stability in Europe and other parts of the world depends to a large extent on the cooperation between Russia and France. The two countries' stands on a lot of issues, such as strategic stability and ways of solving regional conflicts,are similar.
Russia is ready to expand cooperation with France in the fields of security and defense, he said.
Vedrine's visit to Russia "is taking place at the best possible time." This is a very important moment in Russian-French relations, Ivanov said.
At a news conference after the meeting, Vedrine noted that it is necessary to "give a more specific meaning to the concept of partnership" between the European Union and Russia.
He emphasized the need to "better coordinate what the EU can offer Russia and what Russia can offer the EU -- for example, the cooperation in the sphere of science and technology."
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