Article: Putin tours French air defense base, holds talks with European leaders

CHRISTINE OLLIVIER, Associated Press Writer
AP Worldstream
03-18-2005
Dateline: PARIS
In a gesture of trust, French President Jacques Chirac on Friday took Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to visit a high-security center where defense officials comb French airspace on alert for possible attacks.

The visit to the center for air operations in Taverny, northwest of Paris, came ahead of a summit that also included German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.

Before talks with all four leaders, Chirac offered Putin a one-on-one lunch _ a potential chance to press the Russian leader discreetly on prickly issues such as democratic reform in Russia ...

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