Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy could talk over the burning issues in the private environment and without paying attention to time.
Photo: Dmitry Azarov
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See Paris and Fly
Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Paris yesterday. Having held brief negotiations with his French counterpart Francois Fillon, Putin dedicated the remaining part of the day to the conversation with President Nicolas Sarkozy, with whom he dined at the Elysee Palace. Putin’s meetings with old mates and former colleagues will continue today. Russia’s prime minister is yet to have a talk with Jacques Chirac, ex-president of France and the laureate of the RF State Award.
The current working visit of Vladimir Putin to France is very brief. Judging by the order of business, the prime minister will have no more than 24 hours to sort out all issues in Paris. So, after landing in the Charles de Gaulle Airport, Putin rushed to the Matignon Palace, which is the official residence of his French counterpart Francois Fillon. Putin was in a hurry, he was to dine with Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in the evening, so the talk of prime ministers didn’t take more than an hour.
But the prime ministers had a lot to discuss, sources with the RF Foreign Ministry said before the visit. They were expected to focus on the issues ranging from joint projects in power engineering, aircraft and automobile construction to the space exploration. One of highlights was the Russian projects of Total, but not its joint project with Gazprom and Norwegian Statoil and Hydro for Shtokman development, but its pioneering project in Russia – the development of Kharyaga field in the Nenets Autonomous District. The joint undertaking of AvtoVAZ and Renault was another issue of significance.
The dinner with his friend and former colleague Nicolas Sarkozy was the last item of Putin’s agenda on Thursday, so the ex-president of Russia and today’s president of France could deliberate on the burning issues in the private environment and without paying attention to time.
Although generally cultural, today’s agenda of Putin in Paris is equally tense. Once again, it will end by the friendly talk, this time with ex-president of France Jacques Chirac.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 30, 2008
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