Russian President Vladimir Putin and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Saturday exchanged views on bilateral economic relations, cooperation in military technology, the regional situation, international stability and security.

In their meeting held on Saturday morning on the sidelines of the 9th informal meeting of APEC economic leaders, Putin and Mahathir focused their talks on the situation in Afghanistan and in the Middle East, said Aleksei Gromov, press secretary to the Russian president.

Mahathir reaffirmed that he will pay an official visit to Russia early next year, which was postponed after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency 10/20/2001)