Dmitry Medvedev's dog wins a set of badminton against the president and Vladimir Putin
Yesterday, the presidential residence Bocharov Ruchei in Sochi had open doors. At first, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited President Dmitry Medvedev. The chief executives discussed the domestic conditions, took a walk along the shore and played a set of badminton (with the active participation of Medvedev's Retriever Aldo).
German Chancellor Angela Merkel came next. She arrived in Russia on a working visit. Talks were conducted in the winter garden. Medvedev and Putin seem to like to appear as a tandem informally. As MK has already written, both took a walk on the Sochi Embankment, and watched football in a local coffee shop. Yesterday, they were seen together again.
Officially, Putin came to Bocharov Ruchei to discuss the social and economic climate with Medvedev, and for a meeting of the Presidium of the Council on National Projects, which the prime minister held several hours later. But it was clear that Merkel's visit was high on their agenda.
After this discussion, the chief executives decided to take a break. Casually dressed (the president wore a black T-shirt and denims, and the prime minister was in a loose blue-and-white striped shirt and denims), they took a walk around the residence and to the pier. The sun was very bright, and they wore dark glasses, looking virile as though in a Western thriller. On that day, the tandem was a trio - Medvedev and Putin were accompanied by Aldo, the president's golden retriever. The dog was not a silent companion - from time to time he would intervene in the conversation by barking loudly. Putin's Labrador Connie was not invited...
MK information
President Medvedev has four dogs: a central Asian shepherd dog, a golden retriever Aldo, and two English setters - sister Jolly and brother Daniel. He received the English setters as a birthday present last year. At the same time, he presented his son with retriever Aldo. The latter is a relative of Putin's labrador Koni, who is also a retriever.
Having stood on the pier for a while, Putin and Medvedev went to drink tea on the porch. Without batting an eye Putin swallowed a cube of sugar. After the tea the trio approached the water again. They took another walk by the shore and then drove a golf cart to the residence's indoor court. Medvedev was the driver and Putin the passenger. Aldo tried to escape but was stopped by his owner's strict question: "Do you want to walk a little? Let's go." Aldo's upbringing did not allow him to turn down the invitation.
The tennis court was built for the late former President Boris Yeltsin, but yesterday Medvedev and Putin played badminton there. Aldo played along the whole time with attempts at retrieving the bird. Finally he caught the bird and ran with it. Putin tried to get it from him but Aldo would not let it go. Medvedev ordered him: "Sit!" The dog dropped to the ground and let the bird go. Medvedev decided to give Aldo another bird: "Here's another one for you. You can keep it."
It is difficult to say who won or lost the game - both missed several times.
* * *
Medvedev invited Merkel to the winter garden. "It's green here. Why should we sit by the fire place?" he asked rhetorically (usually he receives his foreign counterparts in the Fire Place Hall).
To begin with, the Russian president said he was glad to hear that the German economy has started growing. Merkel followed suit and said that this created an opportunity to bring economic cooperation with Russia back to normal. The crisis had an adverse effect on bilateral trade and economic relations - from January through May, foreign trade declined more than 50% against the same period last year.
Medvedev and Merkel then continued the talks behind closed doors. They had to discuss preparations for the G20 summit in September, and Medvedev's initiative to draft a new treaty on European security. The purchase of the German Opel by Russia's Sberbank and Canadian Magna was supposed to be one of the main items for discussion. General Motors has not yet announced who will buy the German automaker. A lot depends on the German government's position on the matter.
Medvedev and Merkel's news conference was held before this issue was sent to press. This is what the president said:
When asked by the German side how he can defend the lives of human rights activists in the context of recent murders in Chechnya, he replied: "All these murders show that we have no right to relax. The situation remains difficult and the government should do everything to change it. The goal of this whole series of political assassinations is to destabilize the Caucasus." He said this and other murders, as well as an attempt on the life of the Ingush president show that these criminal groups have become more active and are receiving funds from abroad. Finding them is the most important task for all law-enforcement bodies. This is also a challenge for the Chechen leaders. The Chechen president must do everything possible to find the murderers. He said so himself."
When asked why he sent a message to Viktor Yushchenko at this time, Medvedev answered:
"If I start quoting more arguments now, it would sound even tougher, and I don't want to get involved in a dispute. I have already said everything I wanted. Let them read it."
Medvedev said he does not accept Ukraine's view that Russia also bears some responsibility for the deterioration in bilateral relations, no matter what he hears. He also made another point: "I see no prospects for restoring normal relations with the current Ukrainian leaders."
When asked whether the purchase of Opel, which would help the German economy, would not harm the Russian economy, Medvedev said:
"Such investments are necessary in order to stop a decline. They do not distract otherwise needed funds but help resolve different objectives. Our economy is imperfect, and has a bad structure. Therefore, we should invest in those areas where we are not economically active. Such strategic investment helps improve the economy and offers some protection against future cataclysms."
In turn, Merkel said that the German government supports Russia's intention to take part in the purchase of Opel.
Natalia Galimova, Sochi
Editor of the MK-Bulvar magazine Ilya Legostayev, who writes the Fashion Police column, said this about Medvedev and Putin's casual outfits: "In choosing clothes, two key players on the same team have found themselves on the opposite sides of a barricade. None of them deserves to be envied. The president displayed good taste in picking denims, but his choice of a T-shirt and footwear was not great. Black should be left to either the heroes of the 1990s or to provincial rock stars... We have long noted that our prime minister willingly goes for "wild" casual. Walking on the beach in sneakers and loose denims is good, but this pullover makes him look like a farmer in a Soviet film about the successes of agriculture. The choice of sunglasses was good. Both look good in them and they are quite appropriate on the beach."
Natalia Galimova