France:French president Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday that France and Russia had narrowed their differences over Iran's nuclear programme, though disagreements remained.
Speaking after a Kremlin meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Mr Sarkozy also said French investors wanted a stake in Russia's Gazprom gas giant.
Both leaders said they wanted a deeper energy partnership between Russia and Europe, which receives a quarter of its gas from Russia. The issue has been at the root of heated political wrangling between Moscow and European capitals.
"France's policy is transparency and reciprocity," Mr Sarkozy told reporters as he stood alongside Mr Putin.
Many European leaders want greater access for their firms to Russia's tightly controlled energy sector, including Gazprom. Russia, for its part, complains that its firms are blocked from making big acquisitions in Europe.
Mr Putin is to travel to Tehran next week for talks with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Russia - unlike France and other western powers - does not favour new UN sanctions over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"I believe that there is a certain convergence of our opinions [on Iran]," Mr Sarkozy told reporters.
But the French leader gave no specifics, while Mr Putin repeated his view that there was no evidence Iran was developing a nuclear weapon, underlining the differences that still exist between Russia and western powers.
European appeals for a liberalisation of Russia's energy sector have in the past met a cool response. Mr Putin insists the state will retain a controlling stake in strategic energy assets, while foreign investors have had their stakes squeezed in several Russian energy projects.
Mr Sarkozy confirmed that he planned to meet representatives of human rights group Memorial later yesterday, a pointed reminder of European concerns about Russia's human rights record. But he said he was not planning "to teach lessons to anyone".
With differences between the two governments over Iran, Kosovo and human rights, Mr Sarkozy's trip to Russia is his most difficult foreign visit to date.
- (Reuters)