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The Russian and French Presidents held a restricted and then an expanded meeting.

As he opened the one-on-one meeting with Mr Chirac, Mr Putin said that Russians had always felt a special affinity for France, and that it was gratifying that Russian-French contacts were now markedly more active.

The main subjects discussed during the top-level Russian-French talks were coordinated efforts to secure strategic stability, prospects of a common European economic space involving Russia and the European Union, aerospace cooperation, development of trade and economic ties, and current international issues.

Following the talks, the two heads of state issued a joint statement on strategic matters.

Also signed in the presence of the heads of state were a cooperation programme between the Russian Aerospace Agency and the European Aerospace Consortium; an agreement between the Russian and the French government on air traffic; an additional cooperation agreement for 2001–2002 in support of entrepreneurship between the Russian Ministry of Anti-Monopoly Policy and the State Secretariat for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Trade, and Craft Industries of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Finance and Industry of France.

At the conclusion of the Russian-French consultations, the heads of state made a statement for the press and answered journalists’ questions.

In the evening, Vladimir and Lyudmila Putin gave an official dinner in honour of Jacques and Bernadette Chirac.