Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday wished a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to a number of world leaders, as well as former top officials, politicians and religious figures, the Kremlin press service said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th December, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday wished a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to a number of world leaders, as well as former top officials, politicians and religious figures, the Kremlin press service said.
Putin sent New Year greetings to Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, French President Emmanuel Macron as well as Syrian leader Bashar Assad, among many others.
In his greetings, the Russian president expressed hope and commitment for further cooperation and good relations with each of the leaders in the coming year.
Putin also wished a Happy New Year to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel and expressed confidence that 2020 would contribute to the development of Russian-German cooperation.
In his Christmas and New Year wishes to Pope Francis, Putin announced his intention to develop constructive dialogue with the Holy See.
"Congratulating His Holiness Pope Francis on the occasion of the Nativity of Jesus and the New Year, the head of the Russian state expressed confidence that the meeting in July this year strengthened relations between Russia and the Vatican, and announced his intention to fully develop a constructive dialogue with the Holy See, cooperation in order to protect moral values and build a fair world order that ensures peaceful and harmonious coexistence of all countries and peoples," the Kremlin said.
In a New Year message to Czech President Milos Zeman, Putin said that his participation in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II on May 9 in Moscow would be a symbol of friendship and respect.
The Russian president also sent his greetings to a number of former world leaders.
"Vladimir Putin congratulated a number of former heads of foreign states and governments, as well as politicians, in particular, Robert Kocharyan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Serzh Sargsyan, Silvio Berlusconi, George W. Bush, Romano Prodi, Nicolas Sarkozy, Francois Fillon, and Tarja Halonen, King Juan Carlos I and Gerhard Schroeder," the Kremlin press service said.
