Vladimir Putin: Mr President, colleagues, I am happy to greet you once again in Moscow.
We are very glad to receive such a representative delegation from the Republic of Korea in Moscow. We are also pleased to note that our two countries still maintain the high pace of cooperation attained in the last few years.
The bilateral trade turnover has soared by 580% in the last five years. Russian-Korean ties are being diversified. In the future, it will become possible to implement major projects of interest to the Republic of Korea and Russia.
The Republic of Korea is our reliable partner in tackling a number of international problems. We hope that our fruitful cooperation will continue. Mr President, I am convinced that your visit will serve as a good impulse for this.
Lee Myung-bak (as translated): I am very happy to meet with you here today.
In April 2008, you and I spoke to each other by telephone. I want to thank you very much for congratulating me during the conversation, which also focused on economic cooperation issues.
As you have already said, the bilateral trade turnover has soared by 580%. I think all this was made possible by your vision of expanded Korean-Russian economic cooperation.
Over the last 10 years, the Russian Federation has been posting impressive growth rates. I also believe this to be the result of your wise leadership and your efforts.
As you know, our bilateral relations have been elevated to a new level. We will be able to expand bilateral relations in the future, just like we did in the last five years. I am asking you to focus on this issue and to provide the required support.
We must also find joint approaches in order to overcome problems caused by the global economic crisis.