MOSCOW, September 12 (Itar-Tass) — President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia and Great Britain have made an important step toward raising bilateral relations to a new level of cooperation.

Medvedev made the statement at a news conference after talks with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron.

"We've finished talks with Great Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron. Their main result is that Russia and Great Britain have made an important step toward bringing bilateral relations to a new level of productive and fruitful interaction," the head of the Russian state said, "without exaggeration, it is a long-awaited and landmark event for our countries, as well as a considerable contribution to pan-European cooperation.

"We proceed from the general understanding that our states and peoples have many more things that unite them than separate. And even if our views on this or that issue of domestic or international life differ, the main thing is not to let it negatively affect the general nature of bilateral relations.

"Today, Russia and Great Britain are emphasizing the resumption of full-fledged political dialogue over a broad range of pressing international issues. The global crisis convincingly showed that the leading states have to work out the principles and architecture of the post-crisis world order together. We've repeatedly talked about it with the prime minister during G-8 and G-20 meetings.

"The talk in this vein continued, and today, we discussed such pressing themes as the situation in Libya and Syria, the Iranian nuclear program and European security problems," Medvedev said.