VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
Vladimir Putin: Mr Prime Minister, it is a great pleasure to welcome you. Thank you for accepting the invitation of President Dmitry Medvedev and taking part at the international conference in Yaroslavl. I have briefly familiarized myself with the speech you delivered there, and it was given impromptu, as far as I understood.
In terms of our current bilateral relations, I would like to stress that the trade turnover between our countries has been recovering very fast. I am confident that we will reach the pre-crisis level by the end of the year and may even exceed it in terms of turnover volume.
We have been implementing joint projects in a wide range of areas, including power engineering, heavy industry, aviation, electronics and car manufacturing. We are satisfied with the way our trade and economic relations develop.
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you on the sidelines of the Yaroslavl forum and discuss our current bilateral relations.
Welcome.
Silvio Berlusconi: Thank you very much. I am really glad to have been invited to this forum dedicated to democracy issues, where I reiterated what I usually say at any global venue: after many years of totalitarianism the Russian Federation has made a giant leap towards democracy. I had the pleasure to be personally acquainted with President Vladimir Putin and later with President Dmitry Medvedev and establish open and friendly relations with them. And I can say with certainty that their desire to make Russia a democratic country is true and sincere.
As for our relations, they couldn't be any better than they are now. And I believethat after the downturn we will restore their volume as well.
Speaking of the international situation, I can say that the positions of the Russian Federation and Italy have always been almost identical. It is no wonder we have always joined efforts in various crises to overcome them together.
Vladimir Putin: Are we going to live to be 120?
Silvio Berlusconi: Yes, I think. But don't forget that it is an average age. I've been told that state leaders will live much longer.
Vladimir Putin: So you think we are going to remain prime ministers until we are 120?
Silvio Berlusconi: No, I don't think that's going to work. Prime ministers work too hard, and you'll start to get tired of this job. You won't believe it, but I haven't had a single day of holiday this year. And I think with all the difficulties Russia has faced, you probably didn't take a lot of time off either.
Vladimir Putin: I suggest we go on holiday for a couple of days together. We will talk about it later.
Silvio Berlusconi: Let's keep it down to two days.
