Putin arrives in Berlin on German visit

Jan 16, 2009, 14:23 GMT

Berlin - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin toured the International Green Week Agricultural Fair in Berlin on Friday ahead of talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Merkel was expected to use the late afternoon meeting to urge the Russian leader to resolve the gas dispute with Ukraine as soon as possible.

A government spokesman said Merkel expected Moscow and Kiev to adhere to their contractual obligations and resume natural gas supplies to Europe without further delay.

Failure to do so would harm the reputations of both countries and dent the credibility of Moscow in the West, the spokesman added.

Despite a series of agreements, Russian gas exports via Ukraine remained cut off for the 10th day Friday, leaving some European countries without sufficient fuel to heat homes and factories.

The European Union relies on Russia for about 20 per cent of its natural gas. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, gets 37 per cent of its gas supplies from Russia.

Lack of a contract between Russia and Ukraine regulating natural gas shipments into Ukraine is at the root of the crisis, with both Kiev and the Kremlin manipulating energy deliveries to Europe in an attempt to wring a better deal.

Putin is due to meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko for talks on energy in Moscow on Saturday. On Friday, senior officials from Eastern Europe gathered in Kiev for a blitz energy summit.

Following his talks with Merkel, Putin was to to travel to the eastern city of Dresden to pick up an award for promoting Russo- German cultural relations.

A German human rights group, the Society for Threatened Peoples, said Putin did not deserve the honour because of atrocities committed by Russian troops in Chechnya during his time as president.

Putin, who was president before becoming prime minister last year, served as a Soviet KGB officer in Dresden until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.