Chirac, Putin to meet in Paris to cement strong bilateral ties

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 12, 2003

Chirac, Putin to meet in Paris to cement strong bilateral ties

French President Jacques Chirac will welcome his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to Paris for a meeting aimed at solidifying ties, while avoiding the controversy over Russian oil giant Yukos.

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French President Jacques Chirac will welcome his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to Paris for a meeting aimed at solidifying ties, while avoiding the controversy over Russian oil giant Yukos.

Putin, who was due in the French capital on the heels of a European Union-Russia summit in Rome, was to meet Chirac at noon (1100 GMT) Friday for talks followed by a working lunch at the Elysee presidential palace.

Although the meeting is informal and therefore without an official agenda, Chirac spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said European affairs, the situation in Iraq and the Middle East peace process would likely dominate the Paris talks.

But the campaign launched against Russia's number one oil company -- which has raised fears abroad of a heavy-handed Kremlin approach to the Russian economy -- is likely to receive only a cursory mention.

"The president of the republic will be interested to hear the Russian president's analysis of the situation in Russia," Colonna said without elaborating.

Paris has remained essentially mum since the October 25 arrest of former Yukos chief executive and main shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is being held on seven counts including fraud, tax evasion and embezzlement.

On Wednesday, French Finance Minister Francis Mer said he believed the Yukos affair would "undoubtedly be put in order quickly" and urged French companies to boost their presence in Russia.

The situation in the wartorn Russian republic of Chechnya also is not likely to be raised, with France generally repeating that only a political solution can bring an end to guerrilla warfare in the Caucasus.

Chirac's primary goal is to establish a strategic partnership between two major centers of power -- Russia and the European Union, which will soon include several former Soviet republics and satellites.

the French leader demonstrated such willingness earlier this year when he, Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder formed a united front against the US-led invasion of Iraq.

"Russo-French relations are this year at an unprecedented level. It's the result of intense dialogue," said Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko.

With the United States facing near-daily attacks on its soldiers in Iraq, Chirac and Putin are likely to reiterate their wish to see a progressive return to Iraqi sovereignty under UN supervision.

On the bilateral front, space cooperation -- particularly the launch of Russian Soyuz rockets from the European space centre in Kourou, French Guiana -- was due to be on the agenda, according to diplomatic sources in Moscow.

Putin was due to head back to Moscow after his talks with Chirac.

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