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Putin calls Chinese leader "close friend", wishes success to China Olympic team

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping wished Russian and Chinese athletes victories at the Winter Olympics in the southern Russian city of Sochi

© ITAR-TASS/Alexei Nikolsky

SOCHI, February 06. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping wished Russian and Chinese athletes victories at the Winter Olympics in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Thursday.

“In these days all Chinese residents celebrate the Lunar New Year. This is a family holiday with visits to relatives and close friends. Let’s believe that we are close friends,” Putin told Xi.

The Russian leader congratulated the Chinese counterpart on the Lunar New Year and wished “successful performance to the Chinese olympic team.”

The Chinese president believes that he celebrates “a double holiday” - a holiday of spring and the Olympics during his visit in Sochi. “The Winter Olympics is one of most important events on global scale,” he believes. In the view of the Chinese leader, the Sochi Olympics symbolises Russia’s movement forward. “I am deeply convinced that the Olympics will be held at the highest level thanks to Russia’s thorough organisation of the Games,” Xi Jinping said. He hopes that “Chinese and Russian athletes will lead at upcoming competitions.

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