Lebanon Prime Minister Saad Hariri met today with the Russian President Vladimir Putin at his residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
The meeting was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin, Putin’s advisor for international affairs Yuri Ushakov, Hariri’s chief of staff Nader Hariri and his advisor for Russian affairs Georges Chaaban.
At the beginning of the meeting, President Putin said: “I welcome you and I am happy to meet with you again.
Yesterday, you held intensive talks with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and I am sure that the agreements you signed yesterday will strengthen the relations between the two countries. The balance of trade between the two countries is still modest but there is a will to improve this figure and this is the positive standpoint that we must work on.”
He added: “Of course we will discuss this issue as well as the situation in the region, in Lebanon and in neighboring countries and it is important for me to know the positions of all leaders from all countries in the region and I will seize this opportunity to discuss with you all these issues.”
Prime Minister Hariri said:
“Thank you Mr. President, I am very happy to meet with you again. This is an honor for us. We will discuss today all the economic issues, Lebanon’s difficulties, the situation in the region and our distinctive political relations. We hope that the economic relations and the military cooperation will be at the level of these relations. Hopefully we will discuss all these topics in detail.”
Source: NNA
