OREANDA-NEWS. June 6, 2008. The two Presidents discussed various bilateral cooperation matters of mutual interest.

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Viktor Andreyevich,

I am happy to see you again. We have plenty to discuss. We have a very full agenda and, as usual, too little time, but such is the way of life.

PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO: Dmitry Anatolyevich,

It is a great honour for me to have this opportunity to discuss all the different issues in our relations today. We do indeed have plenty to talk about.

Our basic position is that our countries are neighbours and are building strategic relations. There are many issues indeed that we need to examine, many issues that need to be settled, but it is no secret that precisely the fact that we are neighbours means that difficulties can arise in various areas as we build our relations.

I therefore want to thank you for this opportunity to meet. I am sure that we can definitely settle all the issues before our countries and peoples.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I wanted to ask you how your visit to Solovki went? [The Solovetsky Monastery was founded in the fifteenth century on an island in the White Sea and from 1923 to 1939 was the location of a camp and prison for political prisoners].

VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO: It’s an amazing place, an amazing place in terms of both its history and the spiritual atmosphere there. Everything I saw made a great impression on me. I think it would be good to spend a few more days there and have time to reflect on all I saw. It’s a very interesting place.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV: Yes, it is a place interwoven with the destinies of so many people, a place of common tragedy and a memorial in the hearts of all the peoples living on our soil.