President Hu Jintao yesterday sent condolences to his Russian
counterpart Vladimir Putin over the death of former Russian
President Boris Yeltsin.
In a message to Putin, Hu expressed his deep condolences and
extended his sincere sympathies to Putin, the Russian government
and people and Yeltsin's family.
Describing Yeltsin as a close friend of China, Hu said the
traditional friendship between China and Russia displayed new
vitality during Yeltsin's presidency.
While Yeltsin was Russian president, the two countries
established a strategic cooperative partnership, resolved their
border issues left over from history and enjoyed rapid progress in
bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, Hu said.
The outstanding contributions Yeltsin made to the development of
the Sino-Russian friendship will go down in the annals of the
friendly relations between the two countries, Hu said.
Yeltsin, who became Russia's first elected president in 1991 and
transferred power to Putin on December 31, 1999, died on Monday at
the age of 76.
(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2007)
