Transcipt:

Dmitry Medvedev: Good afternoon! Interesting conditions! Excellent! Please, let's begin.

Question: Anton Vernitsky, Channel One Russia. Mr Medvedev, the G8 has returned to the discussion of global economic issues, but the prerogative has been given to the G20. Does this mean that the G8 delegates do not trust the G20 delegates?

Dmitry Medvedev: Some of the G8 and G20 delegates overlap. No, of course, the G20 is still the main format for discussing economic issues; by the way, in my opinion, it has made good progress in recent years, because it is the G20 that has spelled out the basic principles by which the major economies have lived during the crisis. There is a different issue at hand, which is that, to be honest, the situation has worsened somewhat in the Eurozone, and this determined the course of the discussion. Perhaps under other circumstances we would have talked less about economic issues, but given the fact that this is everybody's concern today... It concerns states within the Eurozone, it concerns EU member states as a whole, it concerns other states, including the Russian Federation, the United States and Canada, so the discussion revolved around these economic issues. But not exclusively.

Today, we discussed other issues that were planned in advance – I hope you have the communique. It contains a fairly detailed account of what we were doing. In addition to the economy, we covered issues related to the general political situation, the situation around Syria, the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear programme — we discussed all of this in detail. We discussed the situation relating to the so-called Arab spring and what is happening in the Middle East. Naturally, we discussed other issues, such as an issue related to food-security with the participation of African states. In general, everything is as stated in the communique.

Question: Yelena Glushakova, RIA Novosti. Mr Medvedev, today we discovered – not today, a couple of days ago – that you have learned how to use a new software programme, and accordingly, we have discovered many new and interesting things about your life. In particular, we learned that today you spoke with the U.S. President on a park bench. What did you talk about? What issues did you discuss? What agreements did you come to? And how did the meeting go?

Dmitry Medvedev: By the way, first I'll say a few words about the programme, not Barack Obama. It is quite interesting and it allows you to post pictures quickly. In general, I liked it, so I will continue using it.

With regard to our meeting, it really took place in an informal atmosphere – we weren't wearing ties, nor even jackets. And in general, it was held in a friendly manner, because the atmosphere of Camp David itself facilitates this. Naturally, we once again talked about what had been done in recent years. I said that my presence here at Camp David, as the head of the Russian delegation at a time when President Putin is busy assembling his cabinet, or to be more precise, is coordinating candidates for the cabinet, should be regarded as a symbol of a certain continuity of foreign policy and the primacy of the reset policy, to which President Obama and I have devoted a lot of time. Why? Because, if I am here today, as someone who has been engaged in the formation of foreign policy until a certain point in time, this means that Vladimir Putin and I have the same understanding of our foreign policy priorities, regardless of what people say or write, or what they try to interpret as any difference in understanding of certain events on the international agenda.

Our meeting today, of course, dealt with a wide range of issues indeed. We talked about what has been done and about the problems that are now facing our countries, including expanding trade and economic relations. I noticed that Russia has surpassed the United States in one of the figures, which surprised even me. If we talk about the volume of investment, our investment has surpassed that of the United States for the first time in recorded history. Of course, on the one hand, this is good for our investors, but in general, it is not a good figure for such a large economy as the U.S. It simply means that there is not much focus on investment in Russia. I mentioned this very point to Mr Obama, and we focused on it for some time.

Of course, we talked about foreign policy issues, about how our relations will develop. We talked about how the G20 would go. I told him about some of the processes that are taking place in our country, and Mr Obama told me how things are in the U.S., and what will happen soon in American politics. We understand this, but nevertheless it is always useful to hear it first-hand. So the conversation was comprehensive, and it continued in various forms, on the sidelines. In general, I am satisfied with this conversation – it means that our relationship continues and at the same time I handed him a letter from Vladimir Putin, which also lays out our position on certain areas of our foreign policy and bilateral relations.

Question: Mr Medvedev, is there any change in foreign policy priorities with regard to France due to Francois Hollande taking office as President of France? And in addition to meeting with Barack Obama, you've had a lot of other bilateral negotiations. I would like to hear about them in detail, in particular, whether British Prime Minister David Cameron has invited you to the Olympics in London? Thank you.

Dmitry Medvedev: I just met the new President of France, Mr Hollande. I can say that he is, of course, different from the former President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy. This is absolutely normal. They are different people, they represent different political forces, and this could be felt in the discussions. As for priorities, this is probably not something for me to comment on, but for French citizens. I can tell you one thing: of course, they represent different political approaches, but at the same time, when, say, the whole economy of the European Union is under some pressure due to the situation in Greece and some other economies that are in a difficult position, there is no choice. And, in general, it is clear that there is a need to generally stay with the approach, the programme of action that has been formulated recently – in this regard, I, in any case, do not expect that there will be any radical changes. But at the same time, of course, the new President of France has taken office with a certain stance; he represents his party and of course must fulfil the promises given during his election campaign.

Other meetings were also useful and interesting. Incidentally, I spoke yesterday with the French President, and today we also had several meetings. In the morning there was a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. We – you'll be surprised – did not talk in the morning about football, we only talked about football later. We talked about how our relations have developed, checked the schedule of meetings at the presidential and prime minister levels and focused on the current economic situation in Europe. Frankly, I asked Ms Merkel her opinion on how events could unfold. For us, it is of great importance, and I have repeatedly thought about this and have said that our economies – the economies of Russia and the European Union and, of course, the German economy – are strongly linked. The EU accounts for almost 50% of our trade – this is a huge figure, it is hundreds of billions of euros. We have very large reserves, and our reserves are concentrated in the euro, and, of course, we absolutely do care about what happens in this area. So I have had these kinds of talks all morning.

After that we had a conversation on related topics, including bilateral relations with Prime Minister of Italy, Mr Monti. We also discussed the economy and, of course, the major projects that link our two countries today. In general, we noted with satisfaction that the volume of trade is growing; there are very interesting projects, not only in energy, although energy is also a very important subject. And, of course, we discussed other bilateral issues, not just those of an economic nature.

And I also recently wrapped up my meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron. We discussed foreign policy issues, and once again addressed the agenda of today's G8 meeting. We talked about Syria, Iran and talked about other foreign policy issues that are usually discussed at such meetings, and, of course, we touched upon our bilateral relations. Regarding an invitation to the Olympics – yes, I have received an invitation. I'm now considering what to do. The invitation is certainly interesting, but I need to evaluate my schedule.

I can hardly see you, so I'll try to guess who’s asking the questions. But at least it's not hot, that's good.

Question: Mr Medvedev, please tell us about the results of the discussions on a financial rescue of Europe?

Dmitry Medvedev: It will be saved.

Question: Can you elaborate? How will it be saved?

Dmitry Medvedev: “The Rape of Europa” and the salvation of Europe. I can tell you straight away – it was a good summit. I shared my sentiments with President Barack Obama, the master of today's summit, and with British Prime Minister David Cameron. In my opinion – and this is my fifth summit, I have had some experience [with the G8 summit]. This was the most informative summit – in terms of the set of arguments, in terms of the debate, and well, in terms of the interest and involvement of all parties. By the way, and maybe the number of conflicts that always exist between the various delegations, the leaders of certain delegations, maybe it was the most hassle-free summit, because we have a common stance related to the fact that it is necessary in some way for Europe to come out of the difficulties into which it has fallen.

What should we do? This, of course, is not a direct problem for the Russian Federation or the U.S. – it is a problem for the EU and Eurozone countries. Of course, it is necessary to implement the decisions that have been made before. The main approach of the discussion was focused on the following – after all, what is more important – the growth of the economies or fiscal consolidation, budget issues, or budget deficit issues? In general, of course, there are no black and white answers – everyone agrees that we need both. We cannot forget about the budget deficit, and it is necessary to engage in fiscal consolidation, to take a responsible budgetary position. On the other hand, it is impossible to fulfil budgetary obligations, if there is no economic growth. And it's not a vicious circle, but it's still the set of priorities for these economies.

For a long time, we discussed the situation in Greece and some other weakened economies, but above all Greece. This, of course, has its own difficulties. As a result, a stance on Greece was included in the communique, although initially it wasn’t there. The general position is that Greece should remain in the Eurozone – at least the countries that co-ordinated the communique, the G8 countries, would like for this to be so. But the will of the G8 alone is not enough. It is necessary that the people of Greece want it, that Greek citizens want it. Greek citizens are articulating their demands to the political parties that have recently formed a new parliament in Greece. Now, a lot depends on how successful the Greek government will be and how it will be able to fulfil the commitments it has taken on. We’re talking about very large sums. These are amounts that are amazing even for me – they are comparable with the sums that were once spent on the Marshall Plan. But in any case, all this can be done if there is the political will and the appropriate assistance and support from the EU countries, the Eurozone and other countries. We believe that we have a common stance on this issue.

Question: Thank you very much! If you will allow, let's switch to domestic policy, Mr Medvedev.

Dmitry Medvedev: Of course.

Question: After reshuffling the cabinet, will government plans for the coming years be changed or somehow adjusted? Thank you!

Dmitry Medvedev: There are medium to long term plans, and these are our priorities in the coming years. They probably do not need to change – this is exactly what we have struggled to create. I mean the plans and the concept until 2020, among others. I recently, as president, had held consultations on this matter. But there are, of course, some adjustments that we will be required to make, taking into account the general economic situation. While in general the situation in our economy is quite stable, because we had a budget surplus last year, it means that this year will naturally be more difficult; nevertheless, we are working on the budget. We have formulated a “fiscal rule” for ourselves, and now we finally agree on how it will look and at what point it will be implemented. It is, in fact, precisely what we talked about at the summit – issues of fiscal consolidation and financial responsibility.

Naturally, we will have to follow the parameters of inflation reduction so that we can retain the positive trend we’ve seen - the lowest inflation during the Russian state - over the next few years. But, of course, there can be changes if we come upon adversities in the global economy, and judging by these discussions, this is quite possible. We hope after all that the Eurozone countries and other countries will be able to work their way out these problems. Nevertheless, these are serious problems. And if such problems arise, of course, the government should be responsible for resolving them.

We have a procedure, a set of laws, a set of approaches that we used during the previous crisis, the first wave of the crisis. If necessary, we will naturally implement these. In this sense, we have all the weapons loaded, so to speak, and stand at the ready. But once again I say, let's hope that this will not be required.

Question: Another question on domestic policy, if I may. You spent more resources than usual on assembling a cabinet this time. Why is that? How hard was it to select candidates given the fact that you want to replace 70-80% of the cabinet? Thank you.

Dmitry Medvedev: Selecting candidates is always the hardest thing, because there always seems to be a lot of good people. But the work is in the cabinet, working in ministerial positions – this is a very demanding responsibility. Indeed, the government needs to be upgraded significantly. And this is just due to the fact that its formation is taking somewhat longer than in previous periods. That's why it was decided that the Russian G8 delegation to the U.S. would be led by the Prime Minister.

I did my part. I did it, maybe over the last two months. The set of candidates was referred by the President. I need to meet each of the candidates and understand his willingness to perform the relevant duties.

Why wasn’t this done previously in such volume? The reasons are quite obvious. Because the previous cabinet and the cabinet before that were changed much less – there were well-known people, who worked in the Russian government for quite a long time, many, in fact 10, many of them for 12-15 years. Now the team needs new blood. That’s why the consultation process took a little longer.

But I think this is absolutely normal. We reserve the right to afford such a luxury – once every four years or, with the new cycle – it could be longer – once every six years or so – to carry out such consultations as much as necessary. The smooth operations of the cabinet depend on this.

Thank you very much. Everybody have a good trip home. Goodbye.