PM and President Medvedev hold talks at G8
Prime Minister David Cameron has held his first face-to-face meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as the two leaders attended the G8 Summit in Canada.
The PM and President Medvedev met on Friday evening to discuss a range of issues including the economy, the Middle East and Iran.
They agreed to stay in touch personally and said there was an opportunity to put their bilateral relationship on “a new footing”.
Speaking alongside President Medvedev after the meeting, the PM said:
It has been a great pleasure to have this face-to-face meeting. We have spoken on the telephone and it has been good to have this meeting. As you say, I think there is a real opportunity to put the bilateral relationship on to a new footing, to try to make a stronger start and to work through the issues where we have agreement and those where we still have things to work through. But I think there is a lot of common ground on the economic issues we face and the challenges of dealing with deficits, getting our economies growing and more economic cooperation between our two countries.
A Downing Street spokesman added:
This was a constructive meeting which represented the first step towards a renewed relationship between UK and Russia. The Prime Minister made clear that there were still points of disagreement between the UK and Russia, and he specifically raised the death of Alexander Litvinenko. But the Prime Minister also stressed that the UK and Russia should work more closely together to build a better relationship focussed around the economy, climate change and academic co-operation.
The two leaders also discussed a range of global issues, including the world economy ahead of the G20 Summit, the Middle East Peace Process and Iran. The Prime Minister and the President agreed that their Foreign Ministers would work closely together. They looked forward to William Hague’s visit to Moscow.
Speeches and transcripts: Meeting with President Medvedev
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