INFORMAL TALKS WITH RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER

VOLCJI POTOK, 10 January 2002


President of the Republic, Milan Kucan, met informally with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov today. Kasyanov is in Slovenia for a private visit. Among other issues the interlocutors discussed bilateral relations, the current global situation and the integration of both states into Euro-Atlantic structures.


President Kucan stated that bilateral relations between the two states, after years at a standstill, have been recently growing increasingly intensive, while it is in Slovenia's interest for these relations to improve further, particularly in the economic sphere. Regarding NATO, President Kucan presented to Prime Minister Kasyanov Slovenia's views and arguments as to why Slovenia is aspiring to join the alliance.

The talks also revolved around the enlargement of the European political and, in particular, economic sphere and Russia's position therein. The interlocutors also touched on the current global situation, marked by the response to the September 11th terrorist attacks on the US and the anti-terrorist coalition. In this context they also pointed out the ever-closer cooperation between Russia and the US, which, in their opinion, is important for the world as a whole and which began with the Bush-Putin summit in Slovenia last June.

Kucan and Kasyanov also mentioned the idea of long-term cultural cooperation between Slavic nations.