"This is a very important visit for me," President Putin said at the beginning of the meeting.
President Putin thanked Viktor Yushchenko for his invitation. "We must maintain not only the political dialogue, but also the level of our relations, which we achieved earlier," the Russian head of state was quoted as saying.
"We currently have the largest trade turnover in the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations in the post-Soviet era. It is very important, and welfare of millions of Russians and Ukrainians depends on this factor," the Russian leader pointed out.
Vladimir Putin gave Viktor Yushchenko the best wishes of the French, German and Spanish leaders, whom he met in Paris on Friday.
"I would like to greet you on behalf of our European counterparts," he said.
President Putin told Yushchenko that he had informed Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schroeder and Jose Luis Zapatero about the upcoming visit to Kiev.
"It is a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Ukraine," Viktor Yushchenko said. "Our countries have had long-standing strategic relations in all sectors," the Ukrainian president noted.
Bilateral relations set the tune of today's talks in Kiev, Yushchenko emphasized.
