Vladimir Putin And Rudolf Schuster Share Desire To Develop Bilateral Relations

The Russian-Slovak relations "are not only devoid of any problems, on the contrary, they are showing rather intense development in all the spheres - political, economic and cultural," Vladimir Putin said Monday opening Kremlin negotiations with Slovak President Rudolf Schuster which were attended by delegations of the two countries. According to the Russian head of state, the visit by the Slovak President with "such a representative delegation will give another impetus to the development of bilateral contacts." In his turn, Rudolf Schuster noted that this was the first official visit by the Slovak head of state to the Russian Federation. According to him, "this proves the desire to develop mutually advantageous relations" between Russia and Slovakia. Schuster added that, "thank God, the ice in mutual relations that formed after the 1989 revolution through the fault of some politicians has melted." Despite the orientation of Slovakia's policy towards accession to the European Union and NATO, "this will in no way hamper the promotion and consolidation of relations with Russia," the Slovak President emphasised. "On the contrary, the Russian President and I, we believe our contacts should be developed," Schuster noted. According to him, "there are all prerequisites for that, and it is necessary to use all the resources." This extended meeting was preceded by Putin's and Schuster's tete-a-tete meeting with only one interpreter and no assistants attending.