President Putin meets Canadian Prime Minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin points out positive trends in Russian-Canadian economic cooperation.

"We have some modest progress in economic problems," the Russian President said at the meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien during the APEC summit in Bangkok.

"The plan of joint actions elaborated during your visit to Russia has been successfully implemented," Vladimir Putin noted.

According to the Russian President's data, trade turnover between the two countries has grown by 15 per cent.

Putin recalled his recent meeting with Canadian Governor General Mrs. Clarkson in Moscow. "We believe the visit was a success," the Russian leader said.

On his part, the Canadian Prime Minister said that Mrs. Clarkson had discussed her trip to Russia with him and expressed satisfaction with the visit and the meeting with President Putin.

According to Chretien, Mrs. Clarkson's visit to Russia was a good contribution to good-neighborly relations via North. It means that the Canadian governor general visits those countries which highly value the Arctic region.

The Canadian Prime Minister believes that it is necessary to pay more attention to this aspect of cooperation.