Russian President Vladimir Putin is receiving a visit from his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron at the Kremlin. The talks began with the observance of anti-coronavirus measures, TASS reports.
Putin and Macron did not shake hands as they met. They took their seats at a distance from each other - on the opposite sides of the oval table. The same option for the talks was chosen last week when the Russian leader met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
It is expected that after the one-on-one talks, the Russian and French leaders will continue their conversation at a working lunch, after which they will give a news conference.
The trade turnover between Russia and France increased and slightly exceeded the pre-pandemic level, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, opening negotiations with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
"The volume of trade has grown despite the pandemic. During the pandemic, it fell by 15%, and then over the 11 months of last year it grew by over 70% and reached the pre-pandemic level and slightly exceeded it in my opinion," Putin said.
Putin said he was glad to see Macron. "We haven't met for two years and, of course, there are many issues that need to be discussed directly," the Russian president said, noting that over these years contacts between the two countries have never been interrupted.
According to the Russian leader, "Our colleagues work quite confidently in the political sphere through the ministries of foreign affairs". He added that a meeting was held quite recently between the ministers of defense and the ministers of foreign affairs. "Relations in the humanitarian sphere are also developing, events related to regional cooperation have been held, more than 150 events have been held," Putin added.
In his opinion, all these facts "create a good atmosphere in order to improve general relations between the two countries".
The current security situation in Europe is a matter of shared concern of Moscow and Paris, Putin said.
"I would like to stress it again. We share the concern about what is going on in the sphere of security in Europe," he said.
"I would like to thank you for the fact that France always takes the most active part in the process of the elaboration of principled solutions in this area," Putin told Macron. "This state of things has been in place since the very beginning of our modern relations and it is symbolic that we are meeting today because this is the day when the basic document - the Treaty on Special Relations between Russia and France - was signed thirty years ago."
"It should be noted that over these years France has been taking an active part in the resolution of fundamental issues of European security," Putin stressed. "It was done by your predecessors concerning the crisis that broke out after Georgia’s attack on South Ossetia, concerning the work on the Minsk agreements and the organization of the Normandy format."
"I see how much effort the current French government and the French president are taking to resolve the crisis linked with issues of ensuring equal security in Europe for a long perspective and to address matters linked with the settlement of the crisis in southeastern Ukraine," he said.
The Russian president noted that these matters were discussed during his phone calls with Macron. "I know you have your own vision of the situation and I am glad to have an opportunity to see you in person to discuss these things," Putin added.
