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The agenda included current issues pertaining to the development of bilateral cooperation in the political, trade and economic, and humanitarian spheres, as well as international and regional issues.

Taking part in the talks on the Russian side were Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office – Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut, Minister of Transport Andrei Nikitin, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Governor of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina, Deputy Minister of Defence Vasily Osmakov, and Chief of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces – Deputy Chief of the General Staff Igor Kostyukov.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, colleagues, friends,

First of all, I would like to express gratitude to you, Mr President, for accepting our invitation to visit Russia. This year, we will mark 50 years of diplomatic relations between our countries. It is pleasant that these celebrations begin with your visit to the Russian Federation.

The volume of our trade and economic ties is so far modest, of course but there is room for improvement, and your visit is timely in this context.

We maintain very good relations on international platforms. We coordinate our positions, and we are grateful to your country for supporting many Russian initiatives at the UN.

The number of Russian tourists in the Seychelles is growing, and our tourists account for at least 15 percent of the tourist flow. It is a good indicator, but there is scope to increase the number of our tourists in your country. We would like to thank you for creating favourable conditions for our citizens. We will talk about this later. I have invited my colleagues from the Government and the Central Bank to this meeting. We have a great deal to talk about, including the development of the tourism sector.

We maintain humanitarian contacts, and I am confident that the unique culture of your country will certainly spark the interest of the Russian public.

Your representatives attended the Russia–Africa Forum. We are preparing for its third meeting, and I hope that Seychelles will take part in the third high-level forum.

Thank you again for your visit. I would like to congratulate you on the success of the election campaign and your victory in the presidential election. I have sent you a message regarding this, but I am delighted to personally congratulate you during your visit.

Thank you.

President of the Republic of Seychelles Patrick Herminie: Your Excellency, Mr President,

Thank you very much for inviting me to Russia. Indeed, it is a privilege to be in your beautiful country, and in Moscow, in particular.

As you rightly pointed out, ours is a longstanding relationship dating back to 1976, when we obtained independence. Russia, then the Soviet Union, was among the first countries to recognise our independence.

Since then, we have had various forms of cooperation, from military to sport, and it has spanned over four decades. Indeed, our relationship can only be described as one which is very close.

We are very appreciative of the fact that in this very difficult moment, as a result of the war in the Middle East or West Asia, Russia has again shown its friendship by helping us last week, and we know that tomorrow there will be more help coming our way. We are very grateful for that, and we will not forget that.

With regard to tourism, today Russians are among the greatest number of arrivals in our country. In this very difficult moment, Aeroflot has played a very, very significant role in ensuring that tourists keep coming. As a result of this war, the number of tourism arrivals has gone down by 40 percent, mainly because the Gulf airlines like Emirates, Qatar and Etihad – they have stopped flying or they have reduced their flights altogether.

We look forward to continuing with that relationship, especially when it comes to training and capacity building. In fact, many of our professionals have trained here in Russia over the years. At a very critical moment for us, when we needed professionals to ensure nation-building, Russia was there to help us.

In sport as well – next year we will be participating in some regional events, and we expect the help of Russia in terms of exchanges and training coaches to ensure that we come out first.

So yes, we will continue to be close friends. We will continue to stand by Russia as a good friend, and you can rely on us for support in difficult moments.

Thank you once again for inviting me and my delegation to your beautiful country. So far, we have been treated very, very well. No complaints. So far, everything is so good. I will end on this note.

Thank you very much, Mr President.

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