Expatica news

Putin pledges to fight terrorism with Zapatero

10 December 2004

MOSCOW-Russian president Vladimir Putin has expressed his desire to work with Spain in the fight against terrorism during a meeting with Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in Moscow.

Putin said that Madrid and Moscow had enjoyed “excellent relations” in recent years.

The Russian premier also asked Zapatero to pass his regards to King Juan Carlos.

Zapatero, for his part, has invited Putin to visit Spain next year, possibly as soon as April.

Zapatero was on his first visit to Russia, which will be dominated by trade and business issues as well as the tense situation in Ukraine.

The Spanish premier is expected to announce a EUR 1.3-million (USD 1.7m) grant to carry out a feasibility study for a high-speed train between Moscow and the second city Saint Petersburg.

The project, first floated in the 1990s but abandoned because of lack of financing, was re-launched this year by transport minister Igor Levitin, who opened talks with Madrid after studying existing high-speed rail networks in Japan, South Korea and Spain.

If the construction of the high-speed link goes ahead, it would need an investment of USD six billion and last six to 10 years, according to the Russian transport ministry.

Apart from business ties, the three-week-long political crisis in Ukraine over disputed elections was expected to top of the agenda of the talks between Zapatero and Putin, a Spanish government source said.

Concerning Ukraine, Zapatero will insist on the need to respect democratic rules during the repeat second round presidential election on 26 December, the Spanish official added.

Zapatero is also to visit the Spanish centre which was opened by Spaniards who moved to the Russian capital to escape the Franco dictatorship after the 1936-39 Civil War.
 
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news