*Administration of Barack H. Obama, 2009 *

**Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow, Russia **

*July 7, 2009 *

*Prime Minister Putin.* Mr. President, I'm very glad to meet you here, and I'm glad to have this opportunity to be an acquaintance of yours. The history of relations between Russia and the United States has very many different occasions and events of different, shall we say, color. There were periods when our relations flourished quite a bit, and there were also periods of, shall we say, grayish mood between our two countries and of stagnation. With you, we link all our hopes for the furtherance of relations between our two countries. We are very glad to see you here and welcome you here in Russia.

*President Obama.* Thank you. Well, I very much appreciate you taking time to meet with me. We had excellent discussions with the President yesterday. And I'm aware of not only the extraordinary work that you've done on behalf of the Russian people in your previous role as Prime Minister—as President but in your current role as Prime Minister.

We think there's an excellent opportunity to put U.S.-Russian relations on a much stronger footing. And we may not end up agreeing on everything, but I think that we can have a tone of mutual respect and consultation that will serve both the American people and the Russian people well.

So thank you very much. I look forward to a very useful exchange of ideas. I also want to thank the Prime Minister for arranging very nice weather in Moscow.

NOTE: The President spoke at 9:10 a.m. at the Novo Ogaryovo estate. In his remarks, he referred to President Dmitry A. Medvedev of Russia. Prime Minister Putin spoke in Russian, and his remarks were translated by an interpreter. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.

*Categories:* Meetings With Foreign Leaders and International Officials : Russia :: Prime Minister Putin.

*Locations:* Moscow, Russia.

*Names:* Medvedev, Dmitry A.; Putin, Vladimir V.

*Subjects:* Russia : President; Russia : President Obama's visit; Russia : Prime Minister; Russia : Relations with U.S.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD200900538.