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| Putin with Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel [PHOTO: The Presidential Press and Information Office] |
St. Petersburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Federal Chancellor of
Germany Angela Merkel today took part in the closing session of the XII
Petersburg Dialogue Russian-German public forum.
The main theme at this year’s forum was Russia and Germany:
The Information Society Facing the Challenges of the 21st Century.
Addressing the forum, Putin said, “Petersburg Dialogue has
become an important platform for developing new ideas and public initiatives,
including within the large-scale Partnership for Modernisation programme. This
programme has already been tried and tested at the bilateral Russian-German
level, and will now serve as the basis for building relations between Russia
and the European Union.”
He further said, "I note by the way that Germany is one of
our biggest trade and economic partners. It was our biggest partner until just
recently. The People’s Republic of China is now in the number one spot, but
Germany holds a strong second place. Germany is our biggest partner in Europe in
any case. In this respect, our ties in all different areas, including
humanitarian ties, cultural exchanges and so on, are all extremely important as
they strengthen the general base for cooperation.”
Petersburg Dialogue is an open forum for discussing current
issues in Russian-German relations. Meetings take place every year, alternating
between the two countries, with politicians, academics, cultural figures, and
journalists from both countries taking part.