MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia attaches special significance to the development of relations with France, President Vladimir Putin said while receiving Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and their French counterparts Michel Barnier and Michele Alliot-Marie in the Kremlin on Friday.
The foreign and defense ministers held a session of the Russian-French Security Cooperation Council in Moscow on Friday.
France is "not just a priority partner, this is a partner with which we are building very trusting relations and intend to develop specific ties in both the economic and security spheres," Putin said.
The views of Moscow and Paris on the development of the world situation "coincide in large part, and therefore the activity of the defense and foreign ministers aimed at resolving common problems is extremely important," he said.
The Russian foreign minister said an agreement was reached at the meeting "on specific join mechanisms within the framework of which we will mull aspects of the UN and OSCE reforms and look for ways to improve the quality and level of cooperation under the NATO-Russia Council."
The results of this work will be reported to the Russian and French presidents, he said.