Putin’s Paris Visit Boosts Moscow’s Ties With France, European Union

Russian President Vladimir V. Putin wrapped up his first official visit to Paris on Wednesday during which he strengthened ties with the European Union and scored a diplomatic coup by rekindling relations with France.

The Kremlin leader left for Moscow after launching a new “strategic dialogue” with the EU and holding talks with French President Jacques Chirac that did not dwell on the thorny issue of Russia’s military campaign in the separatist republic of Chechnya.

Putin ended his stay in the French capital with a visit to a cemetery at Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois where many famous Russians are buried.

He thanked France for looking after the cemetery and called on all Russians to “rally around our Motherland.”

Paris has a large Russian emigre population, and ties between the two countries have been traditionally close, but Moscow’s more than yearlong offensive in Chechnya has soured relations and held back political and economic cooperation.

Russian Foreign Minister Ivan S. Ivanov said Monday’s EU-Russia summit could put relations back on track.

“Europe has unfortunately lost more than a year with its pro-Chechen rhetoric,” Ivanov wrote in Le Figaro newspaper.

However, the French media, especially critical of Russia over Chechnya, were not impressed by an EU-Russia joint declaration calling for an urgent political settlement, saying Moscow was still not ready to talk to rebel representatives.

“Mission Accomplished for Putin in Paris,” read the headline in the daily Liberation. “He burnished the coat of arms of Russia, without giving any ground on Chechnya.”

The respected Le Monde also noted that Putin had made no concessions on Chechnya, ruling out political dialogue with people he described as terrorists and kidnappers “up to their elbows in blood.”

“In other words, Russian authorities intend to conduct a dialogue only with interlocutors chosen by themselves,” the newspaper said. “That reduces the chances of a political dialogue to zero.”

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor B. Khristenko said that the EU intends to help Russia in its bid for membership in the World Trade Organization, or WTO, but that obstacles remain.

“We could do this [join the WTO] in a couple of months, but this would mean complete capitulation,” he said, adding that Russia hopes to complete negotiations in the next 18 months although there is no strict time frame.

He said progress had been made in reducing trade barriers, including a recent government decision to reduce customs tariffs on imports by an average of about 10 percentage points.

“The main problem I would say is in the area of services, services in the broad sense of the word because this includes financial services,” Khristenko said.

Economic Development and Trade Minister German O. Gref said Russia had sought understanding from the EU about the changes that have taken place in the economy this year, notably tax reforms and the drafting of the country’s first balanced budget.

“We are expecting trust from Europeans, from European investors, and understanding that Russia sees no other path than integration into Europe and the international community,” he told reporters on the fringes of the summit.

He said the EU and Russia had pledged to work to create the appropriate conditions for attracting private investment to Russia, especially to develop the energy sector.

The summit discussed long-term EU plans to sharply increase energy imports from Russia to diversify and ensure supplies in exchange for investment in Russia’s energy production and transport infrastructure.