Krasnaya Polyana, Krasnodar territory - Russian Prime Minister and President-elect Vladimir Putin plans to start consultations on forming a new government in the near future, of which he said at a meeting with incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday.
Putin thanked Medvedev for congratulating him on his election as Russian president. "I would like to address all citizens of Russia today and thank all people who cast their ballots in the presidential elections. It would probably make sense today to remember that a president is a supra-partisan figure in this country. Therefore, we will work in the best interests of all Russian people, regardless of their party preferences," Putin said.
"We were making decisions on the country’s economic development at a conference you chaired only yesterday. And certainly, the principal goal for us in the economic sector is to maintain macroeconomic indicators, I mean our good trends that we have had in the past years, even despite manifestations of crisis in the economy. You and I together formulated social goals, and they can be attained exclusively through ensuring a certain economic growth rate. We practically started this work yesterday to decide what we should do together and how, just as we agreed earlier," he said.
"We are starting consultations on forming a future government today," Putin said.
Medvedev and Putin are making a working trip to Sochi. They arrived at the mountain ski resort of Krasnaya Polyana on Wednesday and met there with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is paying a private visit to Russia. Medvedev, Putin and Berlusconi had lunch together at a local cafe.
