Mr Putin greeted Mr Schroeder at Yekaterinburg airport. The German Chancellor arrived in the city to take part in Russian-German consultations. According to Mr Putin, Yekaterinburg was chosen because the Sverdlovsk Region had a long history of cooperation with Germany.
Mr Schroeder said that in his opinion there were no problems left in Russian-German relations. He said that the meeting would focus primarily on economic cooperation and international issues.
After their meeting at the airport, the two leaders went to the Maly Istok, the seat of the Sverdlovsk government, and held a tete-a-tete meeting without interpreters.
See also
Russian-German Intergovernmental Consultations
October 8 − 9, 2003