Dmitry Medvedev meets with President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba Raul Castro

Transcript of the beginning of the meeting: 

Dmitry Medvedev: Mr President, I’m pleased to meet with you again. I fondly recall our meetings in Cuba, meetings with you and with Fidel. I think it’s great that we are able to meet so often.

Thank you once again for coming. For us the 70th anniversary of Victory is a special holiday, and it is great to see good friends on this occasion. This is a celebration, but we’ll still talk some business.

Welcome once again!

Raul Castro (via interpreter)First of all, I’d like to thank you for the invitation to take part in celebrating the 70th anniversary of Victory.

I was alive when you won. I was 14 and I remember the news reports about the course of this enormous war. This is why I just couldn’t miss the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory. I’ve also come here because of our continuing friendship and the ties between our two nations. I hope the weather on the holiday is as nice as today, so that the festivities and the parade go smoothly on the wonderful Red Square.

Dmitry Medvedev: I have a feeling the weather will be okay.

Raul Castro: I also think it will be good.

Dmitry Medvedev: I’m sure it will be good, all the more so since you’ve come. There is much to see – lots of planes and helicopters will fly by, not to mention the vehicles that will drive by. 

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