RUSSIA - July 1 - Chirac Visits.

French Pres. Jacques Chirac arrives in St. Petersburg for a 3-day official visit and meets Pres. Putin. The talks cover the US national missile defence shield, the situation in Macedonia and the Middle East, economic co-operation, and economic reforms in Russia. (This is Chirac's first visit to Russia since 1997). Putin said: "We will work towards the creation of a common economic zone" from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains. "This idea belongs to de Gaulle... We hope France will adhere to it". (It is not the first time that Putin has invited leaders, with whom he seeks to strike up a good personal relationship, to St. Petersburg. Earlier he welcomed in his home city British PM Tony Blair and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. A chill in ties was prompted earlier by sharp French criticism of Moscow's crackdown on separatists in Chechnya. Financial claims against Russian interests have been pursued in French courts. After the talks, Chirac did not mention these issues in his interview with the Russian media, but talked of the "paramount importance" of Russia's relationship with the EU and France). Chirac travelled on to Moscow for further meetings with Putin and other officials. On July 2 at a news conference, Putin welcomed US proposals for further nuclear weapons reductions but insisted that disarmament must be controlled and requires strict adherence to the 1972 ABM Treaty. Putin also criticised the decision to deliver former Yugoslavian Pres. Slobodan Milosevic to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, saying he doubted that the move would stabilise the Balkans. The two leaders issued a statement on international strategic issues that affirmed their support for the ABM Treaty, which the US has called outdated and an obstacle to the US missile defence plan.