PARIS, March 18 (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday was given a friendly reception by the leaders of France, Germany and Spain when they met for informal talks aimed at bolstering recently strained ties between Moscow and the European Union.

French President Jacques Chirac invited German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to his Elysee palace for the first-ever such meeting, after holding bilateral talks with Putin.

At a press conference after the 90-minute four-way session, the leaders said it had been a useful preparation for an EU-Russian summit due in May.

"France, Germany, Spain and Russia see in this relationship a way of ensuring ... the definitive establishment of peace, democracy and the rule of law across the whole of our continent," Chirac said.

Among the issues under discussion were the so-called four "common spaces" meant to guide EU-Russian ties through 2007 - the economy, justice and internal security, external security, and education and culture, Chirac said.

The leaders also touched on international affairs, including Kosovo, Iran, the Middle East peace process, Iraq and Lebanon.

In a statement the men committed themselves to the implementation of UN resolution 1559 which calls for the full withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Putin's agreement was important because of Russia's long-standing links with Damascus.

Agreement was also reached for energy ministers of the four countries to meet in the next two months, and for increased aerospace cooperation.

But there was no explicit acknowledgement of the widespread international criticism of Putin for flouting democratic norms in his handling of the Chechen war, the press and business, as well as in his relations wirth Ukraine and the baltic states.

Zapatero said that in Russia as elsewhere the best way to fight terrorism was "the force of reason, the force of the rule of law and international cooperation.

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