| Tuesday, November 13, 2001, updated at 09:34(GMT+8) |
Putin Extends Condolences to American people Over Air Crash |
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Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to relatives of the victims of Monday's air crash in New York, to the American people and to U.S. President George W. Bush before his departure to the U.S. Monday evening.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed condolences to relatives of the victims of Monday's air crash in New York, to the American people and to U.S. President George W. Bush before his departure to the U.S. Monday evening.
When asked whether this tragedy will change the "format of the visit," Putin said "the work cannot stop and, as far as we know, the U.S. side is prepared to implement the plan drawn up for the visit."
However, the president said he knew the new tragedy might bring troubles, and he was ready to be flexible for change of the format if necessary "with full understanding."
What is important is not external attribute but the contents of the negotiations, said Putin, adding that "I have no doubt that the visit will be filled with a positive content."
An American Airlines jetliner en route to the Dominican Republic with 255 people on board broke apart and crashed moment after takeoff Monday from New York's Kennedy Airport, setting home ablaze. There were no known survivors.
An Interfax report said the crash news triggered some panic on the Russian stock market and set blue chips tumbling.
In just a few minutes the common shares of indicating Unified Energy Systems (UES) of Russia plunged 7.7 percent on the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange from 3.9 rubles a share to 3.6 rubles a share.
However, as there were no reports straight after the crash that it was linked with terrorism, share quotes started to pick up with the UES closing at 3.744 rubles a share on the MICEX, down 0.6 percent from Friday's level.
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