(3 Apr 2004)
1. Various President Vladimir Putin, with wife Lyudmila, greeting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, with wife Doris, in mansion lobby
2. Putin and Schroeder entering host''s office room and posing for cameras
3. Interpreters
4. Various President Putin and Chancellor Schroeder talking while seated
5. Cutaway journalists
6. President Putin and Chancellor Schroeder entering press hall
7. Cutaway security
8. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Putin, Russian President:
"We definitely stressed that we are anxious about the NATO expansion although from the point of view of security of the Russian Federation there is no fear."
9. Press hall
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Putin, Russian President:
"The approach of the NATO military structures to our borders certainly is thoroughly studied by military experts and according to it we will construct our defence policies."
11. Chancellor Schroeder listening to President Putin
12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Putin, Russian President:
"We hope that in terms of the NATO-Russia council we will discuss any problems and consider our cooperation with this institution as the general line of our cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation."
13. SOUNDBITE (German) Gerhard Schroeder, German Chancellor:
"We have spoken about the relations between the Russian Federation and Europe, and as you know the president is very interested in forging a truly strategic partnership with the European Union. Germany supports this desire and this goal wholeheartedly, and we are of the opinion that all bureaucratic obstacles must be overcome and may in no case dominate the mutually declared political intentions."
14. President Putin listening to Chancellor Schroeder
15. Photographers
16. President Putin and Schroeder shaking hands with each other and leaving press hall
STORYLINE:
President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia does not fear the expansion of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) or the European Union (EU), but acknowledged that Moscow has disputes with the EU and warned that the military alliance''s eastward march won''t improve international security.
Putin was speaking during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who visited Moscow on Friday.
Schroeder''s visit came on a day when soldiers from seven Eastern European countries including the three ex-Soviet Baltic nations raised their national flags outside NATO headquarters in Brussels, marking the Western alliance''s expansion into the former Soviet Union.
Russia is increasingly wary about the encroachment on its borders by the West-leaning military pact.
The two leaders also discussed how relations between the Russian Federation and the expanding European Union should develop.
According to the ITAR-Tass news agency, Putin suggested Russia could eventually join the EU.
Schroeder, the first Group of Eight industrialised nations leader to meet with Putin since his election to a second term in March, opened the meeting with congratulations.
In a radio interview, Schroeder said he was "firmly convinced" that the next stage of Putin''s presidency, "will be accompanied by further processes of democratisation."
European election observers said that slanted coverage in the state-run media and other problems made for an electoral process that fell short of
international democratic standards.
Schroeder''s fleeting visit to Russia comes just ahead of a visit on Saturday by French President Jacques Chirac, as the two European heavyweights seek to strengthen ties forged with Moscow over opposition to the Iraq war.
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