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Russian president pledges closer ties with France

07 September 2011 22:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with French foreign and defense ministers who are attending Russian-French Security Cooperation Council in the Kremlin Wednesday, pledging further development of bilateral ties with France, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

According to the Kremlin press service, the president attended the meeting and highly valued the regular bilateral meeting between the two countries.

"The meeting is a useful format to provide opportunities for effective discussions on international cooperation and sensitive security issues. This is important for big countries and close partners that are Russia and France," Medvedev said.

During the meeting, the two sides have exchanged views on key issues of common concerns, including the European security and missile defense system, NATO troops in Afghanistan and the situation in Libya and Syria.

The Russian-French Security Cooperation Council was established in 2002 at the decision of the two country’s presidents. The Council meets every six months, alternately in Moscow and Paris.