Respected Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen. Our talks took place in a constructive and positive atmosphere, detailed and political. I would like to once again thank my American colleague for the invitation to come here. It is entirely logical to meet right here. Although oceans separate our countries, we are actually close neighbors. When we met and stepped out of our airplanes, I said, "Good day, dear neighbor. It is very nice to see you in good health and alive." In a neighborly way, that sounds very kind, in my opinion. We are separated only by the Bering Strait, where there are two islands, and the Russian and American ones are only four kilometers apart. It is also important that a significant part of the shared history of Russia and America is connected with Alaska. Here, a large cultural Russian Orthodox presence emerged. More than 700 geographical names have Russian roots. During the Second World War, it was here in Alaska that the legendary air route began for the delivery of aircraft and other equipment under Lend-Lease. It was a dangerous, difficult route across vast icy expanses, but the pilots and specialists of both countries did everything to bring victory closer, risking and giving their lives. In the city of Magadan, there is a monument to Russian and American pilots, and there is also such a monument at the military airfield just a few kilometers from here, commemorating Soviet pilots who died while fulfilling that heroic mission. We are grateful to the American authorities and citizens for their respectful attitude. This looks dignified.
We will always remember other historical examples when our countries defeated common enemies together in the spirit of battle fellowship and alliance, providing mutual aid and support. I am confident this heritage will help us restore and build mutually beneficial, equal ties at a new stage, even in the most difficult conditions. As is known, Russian-American summits have not been held for more than four years. That is a long time. The past period was very difficult for bilateral relations, and, frankly speaking, they sank to their lowest point since the Cold War. This benefits neither our countries nor the world. It is obvious that sooner or later the situation had to be rectified, transitioning from confrontation to dialogue. In that regard, a personal meeting between heads of state was truly overdue, of course, conditional on serious and meticulous preparation. Such work was carried out. President Trump and I have established very good, direct contacts. We have spoken frankly on the phone repeatedly. As is known, the special envoy of the US president visited Russia several times, and our aides and heads of foreign ministries were in regular contact.
As you well know and understand, one of the central issues was the situation surrounding Ukraine. We see the intention of the US administration and President Trump personally to help resolve the Ukrainian conflict, his desire to delve into the essence and understand its history. I have repeatedly said that for Russia, events in Ukraine are linked to fundamental threats to our national security. Moreover, we have always considered the Ukrainian people a brotherly nation. I have spoken about this repeatedly. Under current conditions, everything that is happening is a tragedy and severe pain for us. Therefore, our country is genuinely interested in putting an end to this. But at the same time, we are convinced that for a Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, all the root causes of the crisis must be eliminated, all the legitimate interests of Russia must be guaranteed, and a fair balance of security in Europe must be restored. I agree with President Trump—he spoke about this today—that Ukraine's security must certainly be ensured as well. Of course, we are ready to work on this. We hope that the understandings we reached will allow us to move closer to that goal and open the road to peace in Ukraine. We expect that Kyiv and European capitals will receive all this constructively and will not create obstacles or attempt to derail progress through provocations or behind-the-scenes intrigues.
By the way, with the arrival of the new US administration, bilateral trade turnover has begun to increase. It is somewhat symbolic for now, but still up 20%. This shows that we have many interesting areas for joint work. Obviously, the Russian-American business and investment partnership has huge potential. Russia and the US have things to offer each other in trade, energy, the digital sphere, high technologies, and engineering. Cooperation in the Arctic and the resumption of interregional contacts, including between our Far East and the American West, appear very relevant. In short, it is important and necessary for our countries to turn the page and return to cooperation. It is symbolic that nearby, on the border between Russia and the US, as I already mentioned, runs the International Date Line, where one can literally step from yesterday into tomorrow. I hope that we will achieve the same in the political sphere. I would like to thank Mr. Trump for our joint work, for the friendly and trusting tone of our discussions. The main thing is that the conversation was oriented toward results. We see that the US president has a clear understanding of what he wants to achieve, genuinely cares about the prosperity of his country, and at the same time shows understanding for Russia's national interests. I expect that today's agreements will become a reference point not only for resolving the Ukrainian problem, but also for laying the groundwork to restore business relations and investments. In conclusion, I would like to recall that in 2022, during our last contacts with the previous administration, I tried to convince my former American counterpart that things should not be pushed to the point where heavy consequences in the form of combat actions could occur, and I said directly back then that this would be a major mistake. Today, when we hear President Trump say that if he had been president, there would have been no war, I think that really would have been the case. I can confirm this, because on the whole, President Trump and I maintained very good, businesslike, and trusting contact. I have every reason to believe that moving along this path, we must reach the end of the conflict in Ukraine as quickly as possible. Thank you for your attention.
