President Medvedev Meets
Henry Kissinger in the Kremlin

RIA Novosti Photo

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in the Kremlin. The Russian president said he was glad to have an opportunity to get to know the prominent politician, who was U.S. Secretary of State in 1973-77, and to discuss with him Russia-U.S. relations.

Kissinger, 85, said it was a great privilege for him to meet Russia’s new president, who was inaugurated on May 7 this year and wished him every success.

"I have followed with great interest your becoming president and the plans you have put forward in some of your speeches. I wish you every success. It is important for Russia and important for the world," he said.

Kissinger is also the U.S. chair of the panel called ‘Russia-USA: A Look Into the Future’ which was formed last year and is also chaired by Russia’s former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov.

Moscow and Washington have been recently involved in a series of disagreements, which include U.S. plans for a missile shield in Central Europe, NATO expansion, Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia, and the issue of Georgia’s breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.