video transcript

Russian president Vladimir Putin meets Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Vladivostok on Saturday. The two leaders said they were keen to further bilateral cooperation, especially in the Arctic which holds some 32 percent of the world's untapped oil and gas reserves. Twenty-one heads of state from the Pacific-Coast region are meeting in Russia to discuss ways to boost regional trade and cooperation - with both China and Russia calling for deeper regional ties to speed up a global economic recovery. Summit host Putin also met with several leaders throughout the day to push for more cooperation. He praised Russian-Peruvian relations with Peru's President Ollanta Humala and also embraced South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak. South Korea is Russian's third biggest trading partner after China and Japan and Lee said their relations were strenghtening, despite the global downturn. Putin also hailed Russia's positive relationships with Malaysian Prime Minster Najib Razak - who said Russia had helped Malaysia put their first man into space - and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, however, was unable to join leaders at the summit's opening following the death of her father. Putin broke the news in his opening remarks where he expressed his condolences for the loss.