July 6, 2009,
The Kremlin, Moscow
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Mr. President, Barak, distinguished members of the American delegation,
On this occasion I would like to welcome you in the Kremlin, and it is our expectation that during the deliberations we will have today and tomorrow we will have a full-fledged discussion of the relations between our two countries, closing some of the pages of the past and opening some of the pages of the future.
Among those difficult questions our countries are tackling together, are those pertaining to economy, security and strategic offensive elements, and it is my hope that it will be possible for us to tackle successfully these problems jointly.
So once again I would like to welcome you all and to wish you success.
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES BARACK OBAMA: Thank you. Well, let me just thank President Medvedev and his entire delegation for the extraordinary hospitality. We are confident that we can continue to build off the excellent discussions that we had in London. And that on the whole host of issues including security issues, economic issues, energy issues, environmental issues that the United States and Russia have more in common that they have differences. And that if we work hard during these next few days, that we can make extraordinary progress that will benefit the people of both countries.
So we are very much looking forward to our meetings. And again I want to thank not only you, Mr President, but the people of Russia for hosting us today. We are very glad to be in Moscow.
DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Even the weather favours such an intercourse between us since it is going to be chilly outside and it is better to work inside.
BARACK OBAMA: We might as well be inside today. Although the last time I was here in Moscow it was 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
More to come—