Photo: Natalia Gubernatorova
About how there was an idea to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to speak in Munich in 2007 and how it was possible to obtain the approval of the head of state to attend the event, in an interview with RIA Novosti, said former head of the Munich Security Conference, former adviser and ally of German Chancellor Helmut Kohl Horst Telchik.
On February 10, 2007, the Russian leader attended the Munich Conference & mdash; the largest European and international discussion platform for politicians, diplomats and the military, traditionally held in the Bavarian capital. In his speech, Putin clashed with US foreign policy and the ideas of a unipolar world order, criticizing NATO's intentions to expand and deploy US missile defenses in Eastern Europe.
& laquo; When President Putin took office, I was asked if I would like to talk to him occasionally, “Telchik said, admitting that he agreed and had the opportunity to speak with the Russian president in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi. According to him, at one of these meetings he personally invited him to the Munich conference he chaired.
As Telchik clarified, Putin addressed a number of important issues in his speech, in particular: the planned deployment of US missile defense systems in Romania & nbsp; Bulgaria, which according to Russian politicians was not so much directed against possible Iranian missiles as against Russia.