SOCHI: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and President Vladimir Putin seen during the signing ceremony. — KUNA

SOCHI: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah held official talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the presidential palace in the Russian city of Sochi. During the talks, His Highness the Amir offered heartfelt and sincere condolence to the Russian president over the victims of the recent Russian passenger plane crash in Egypt's Sinai. The talks focused on ways and means of promoting existing cooperation between Kuwait and Russia in economic, investment, oil and military cooperation, reflecting the depth of friendship and size of mutual interests between both sides.

Also discussed during the talks were ways of developing distinguished relations between both friendly countries in all fields, and the latest regional and international developments, primarily the Middle East and anti-terrorism efforts. The talks were held in a friendly manner that reflected mutual understanding and friendship, with both sides voicing willingness to develop bilateral relations up to the level that fulfills the ambitions of both friendly peoples and their aspired goals.

Meanwhile, Kuwait and Russia yesterday signed a host of bilateral agreements. The signing ceremony, held at the presidential palace in the Russian city of Sochi, was attended by His Highness the Amir and President Vladimir Putin. These include an agreement between the two governments for the exemption of entry visa for holders of diplomatic, special and service passports, signed by First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russian Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky for cultural and artistic cooperation between Kuwait's National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters (NCCAL) and the Russian Ministry of Culture. A cooperation MoU between the Kuwaiti Ministry of Communications and the Russian Ministry of Transportation was signed also. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Anas Khaled Al-Saleh signed it with Russia's Minister of Transportation Maksim Sokolov. A statement of intent was signed between the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense and the Russian firm Rosoboronexport for military equipment.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Khaled Al-Jarrah Al-Sabah signed the statement with Rosoboronexport's Director General Anatoly Isaikin. Finally, CEO of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) Nizar Al-Adsani signed a MoU with Chairman of Russia's Gazprom Board of Directors Alexey Miller for cooperation between both firms. A joint investment MoU was signed between the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. It was inked by KIA Managing Director Bader Al-Saad and Director of the Russian fund Kirill Dmitriev.

In another development, Russian President presented yesterday His Highness the Amir with an old copy of the Russian Pravada newspaper dated on March 13, 1962, which handled the forging of diplomatic relations between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the State of Kuwait. - Agencies