Russian And Macedonian Presidents Meet

In his opening remarks at the meeting with Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his support for the efforts of the Macedonian leadership and the international community to normalise the situation in Macedonia and the Balkans as a whole. Mr. Trajkovski is in Moscow with a working visit. Mr. Putin highlighted that at their previous meeting in Kiev in August, Mr. Trajkovski "spoke with anxiety about the aggravation of international terrorism in the region." "Unfortunately," Mr. Putin stressed, "the relevance of this anxiety has been confirmed by the tragic events, which have made quite a negative impact both emotionally and politically." Mr. Putin emphasised that his meetings with Mr. Trajkovski have become "regular," which provides the presidents of the two countries with opportunities to "promptly react" to developments in the world.