November 8, 2003	Saturday	Ramazan 12, 1424

PARIS, Nov 7: Russian President Vladimir Putin got a warm welcome in Paris on Friday from French President Jacques Chirac, with no sign that the controversy over the Russian oil giant Yukos has clouded their close relations.

In a rare gesture, the French leader accompanied Mr Putin to Orly airport south of the French capital in a Russian limousine following two hours of one-on-one talks at the Elysee presidential palace.

The two presidents made no statements to the press despite the crowd of journalists firing questions at them upon their departure.

Mr Chirac’s spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said the two leaders discussed Iraq, the Middle East peace process, European affairs, Iran and bilateral cooperation during the brief visit aimed at cementing their already strong ties.

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 — loomed large over the talks, along with the situation in Chechnya.

The European Union was forced on Friday to publicly reject Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s sudden defence of Mr Putin’s record on Yukos and Chechnya at the Russian president’s summit with EU leaders in Rome on Thursday.

The outspoken Berlusconi, whose country now holds the rotating EU presidency, accused the European media of “telling tales” about Chechnya and Yukos, prompting the European Commission to state it did not share his views.

But it was unclear whether Mr Chirac even raised the thorny issues with Mr Putin, as Colonna simply said that the French leader was “interested in hearing the Russian president give his analysis of the situation in Russia.”

Paris has remained essentially mum since the October 25 arrest of former Yukos chief executive and main shareholder Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

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

On Chechnya, Colonna merely noted that “France regularly shares its concerns with Russia” about the situation in the Russian republic.—AFP