HE Minister of State Serge Telle has told Russian news outlet Sputnik that he will accompany Prince Albert on his October visit to Moscow, during which meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top officials are planned.
“I will accompany the Prince to Russia on October 6 in order to open a big event at the Tretyakov gallery about the historic links between the Romanovs and the Grimaldis, the Monaco royal family. We have worked quite hard on the history of the two royal families,” HE Telle said on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week. “We will see President Putin and many officials.”
When asked whether Monaco is considering increasing cooperation with Russia, Telle replied, “Yes, we have ideas but we will discuss it during the visit.” The minister also described the present relations between the two countries as “very good”.
The Minister of State also told Russian media outlets that although Monaco has taken in a small number of refugees, the Principality has no plans to take in more.
“The size of our territory and our population do not allow (us) to take hundreds of thousands of refugees… our part is very symbolic,” he commented.
HE Telle had earlier told the General Assembly that although Monaco is responsible for a small portion of global emissions, the country has the ambition to be a leader in energy innovation. Monaco also has committed to reduce greenhouse emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2030.