As part of his visit to Hungary, the President of Mongolia, Khaltmaagiin Battulga met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was a private visit by Kh.Battulga, not as president of Mongolia but as president of the Mongolian Judo Federation.

The meeting took place after the opening ceremony of the 2017 World Judo Championships. The Mongolian President watched the competitions together with the Prime Minister of Hungary and President of Russia.

President Putin said that he appreciated the opportunity to meet his Mongolian counterpart. Both men are politicians and good athletes. He congratulated Kh.Battulga on the excellent performance of the Mongolian judokas at the world championships.

As for bilateral relations, Putin said: ‘we will have an opportunity to speak about them in more detail in Vladivostok, where you are planning to attend the forum. But it is already clear that the trend in trade is good. While last year it fell by 20 percent, in the first half year of 2017 it grew by over 34 percent.’

‘Work is being done on the political track, as well as in the economic and cultural areas. Our traditional Russian-Mongolian ventures are working hard and shipments are up. So, we will have plenty to discuss in depth in Vladivostok.’

Mr.Kh.Battulga said: ‘the presidential election in Mongolia was less than two months ago. Considering modern realities, I am planning to further expand relations with our northern neighbour.’

‘You have just said that trade has grown. This trade owes something to cross-border regions and I think it is important to pay attention to the relations between our border regions because we have a common border of over 4,000 km.’