MOSCOW, December 1. / TASS /. Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed that Moscow is ready to resume profitable and constructive cooperation with Bratislava if the Slovak side has the intention.

"We are interested in developing ties with Slovakia on the basis of good neighborliness and mutual respect, bearing in mind the spiritual and cultural closeness of the countries’ people, the shared history of the fight against Nazism," the Russian president noted on Wednesday at the ceremony of presenting credentials by ambassadors.

"Unfortunately, our current political contacts are limited but if the Slovak side is ready, it will be possible to proceed with profitable and constructive cooperation, which has been maintained for many years <…>," Putin said.

Moscow and Vienna

According to the head of state, "Russia and Austria are building relations on a constructive and pragmatic basis, relying on the principles of mutual respect and considering each other's interests." "We are long-term reliable partners in the fields of trade, investment, and energy," Putin mentioned. "Despite the pandemic, our mutual trade [volume] is growing - in the first half of 2021, it surged by 26.5%. This is a very good result," the Russian leader said.

Russia’s ties with other countries

Putin pointed out that "the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Vietnam encompassed political, economic, humanitarian and many other spheres." On Tuesday, the Russian president held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc, during which the sides "reached agreements on further expansion of Russian-Vietnamese cooperation." "The negotiations have confirmed that Russia and Vietnam’s positions on topical issues on the global agenda are very close or completely coincide," the head of state noted.

The president assured that Moscow viewed Nigeria as "one of Russia’s key partners on the African continent <…>. " He also expects that "the Nigerian leadership will support the Russian initiative to hold the next meeting of the leaders of Russia and African states in 2022."

Furthermore, Putin expressed hope that "the political situation in the friendly Republic of Guinea would soon stabilize." He recalled that "Russia has been a major investor in the Guinean economy for many years, the [country’s] companies had been successfully engaged in the extraction and processing of mineral raw materials for a long time."

The Russian leader also assured that Moscow was interested in developing cooperation with the Somali Republic. "Your government is taking active steps to reinforce the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, countering terrorism and extremism, seeking to create conditions for socio-economic revival. Of course, we wish you success," Putin addressed the Somali envoy.

"The ties with Ghana are steadily developing, cooperation in the fields of trade and energy <…> is increasing. We are jointly engaged in the extraction of minerals and hydrocarbons," the Russian head of state noted. "And we will definitely continue to educate professional personnel for various sectors of the Ghanaian economy," Putin said.