MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. The leaders of Russia and the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Vladimir Putin and Thongloun Sisoulith, conducted part of their talks today in Russian.
The Russian president noted Sisoulith once studied in Russia - in Leningrad.
Putin said that his Laotian colleague had graduated from the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute named after A. I. Herzen, receiving an honorary doctorate from the university.
"This helped us hold part of the negotiations today, including face-to-face, in Russian," the Russian leader said in a joint statement following the talks.