At the beginning of the meeting, President Putin said that he and Leonid Kuchma would again discuss all the proposals made at an informal CIS summit in Kiev, especially those on integration and a common economic space.
Mr Putin and Mr Kuchma also discussed energy cooperation. Mr Kuchma expressed the view that the project to set up an international gas consortium of Russia, Ukraine and Germany was slightly falling behind schedule.
Mr Putin, in turn, said that at his meeting with German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin, he discussed this issue. He said Mr Schroeder was ready to meet with the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine to discuss the future three-way gas consortium. In Berlin, Mr Putin assured Mr Schroeder that all the agreements on cooperation in that field finalised in St Petersburg would be honoured.