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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 05, 2004

Chirac visits Russia's top-secret space center

Visiting French President Jacques Chirac became the first Western leader to visit a top-secret Russian space center Saturday as he flied into Krasnoznamernsk, where the Titov test and control space center was based, for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.


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Chirac visits Russia's top-secret space center
Visiting French President Jacques Chirac became the first Western leader to visit a top-secret Russian space center Saturday as he flied into Krasnoznamernsk, where the Titov test and control space center was based, for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov greeted Chiracat the Titov test and control space center in Krasnoznamernsk, some 40 km southwest of Moscow.

This was the first time that the closed Soviet-era military facility, which collects and analyzes all information gathered from Russia's military spy satellites, had been opened to a Western leader.

When reporting work to the two heads of state, Russian Space Forces Commander, Lt. Gen. Vladimir Popovkin, said it is one of Russia's priorities to expand space cooperation with France, a leading force of the European Space Agency.

Chirac's visit came amid Moscow's uneasiness about NATO's latest expansion to the Russian borders and the European Union's imminent enlargement in the former Soviet sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.

At the press conference following a two-hour meeting with Chirac, Putin said that Russia's activities in defending national security are non-aggressive and not targeted against anyone.

Putin said Chirac's visit to the military facility, which is run by Russian Space Forces and operates under tight security, indicated that "Russia is not only developing the most advanced systems of weapons, as all members of the Nuclear Club do, but finds it possible to acquaint its French partners with these projects."

"This points to Russia's transparency and openness in security matters," the Russian president stressed.

The Titov test and control space center, founded in 1957, is also involved in launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles and is working on a plan to develop defensive early warning systems.



Source: Xinhua


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