Mr Gorbachev, who currently heads NTV’s Public Council, briefed Mr Putin on the development of relations between Gazprom and Media-Most, NTV’s major shareholder.
President Putin stated that it would not be right to meddle in the conflict between the two companies and stressed that all disputes should be settled in court. He also underlined that mass media in Russia should be truly independent – economically in the first place, in order to preserve the freedom of speech in the country.