Russian President Vladimir Putin last week clinched a deal that, at least on paper, ensures that his country will remain the world's largest natural-gas exporter for many years to come. Whether Russia will be able to capitalize on the short-term political dividends it may expect from this arrangement remains unclear, however.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has won agreement from President Vladimir Putin to tone down Russian tough talk in an effort to improve strained ties, though neither side gave any ground on major disagreements over missile defense and Kosovo.

The United States and Russia have agreed to tone down diplomatic rhetoric, in a bid to improve strained ties. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the agreement was reached Tuesday in a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice outside Moscow.

U.S. secretary of State Condoleezza Rice opened talks with Russia after acknowledging growing tensions between two countries but rejecting suggestions about the new Cold War.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding separate talks today in Moscow with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Putin first met Rice at his home in Novo-Ogaryovo outside Moscow, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also taking part.

Germany called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow demonstrations during next week's EU-Russia summit in Samara, Russia. Plans are under way for a so-called "Dissenters' March" in Samara during the May 18 summit. In the past months, several such marches were forcefully broken up by police in different Russian cities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin today called Turkmenistan a strategic energy partner for his country, but urged increased bilateral cooperation in other spheres. Putin made the remarks at a meeting with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in Turkmenistan's capital, Ashgabat.

In a solemn speech marking the 62nd anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed the unifying power of the May 9 commemoration -- and criticized those who attempt to "belittle" it.

Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that if he is elected this week, he will urge Europe to pay attention on Vladimir Putin's abuse in Chechnya. "Either we defend universal values of human rights, and that counts for the Chechens just as it counts for the French, or we don't defend them," Sarkozy said on Europe-1 radio.

Russia's upper house of parliament has voted overwhelmingly Friday to ask President Vladimir Putin to cut diplomatic ties with Estonia, after authorities there moved a Soviet-era war memorial from the capital, Tallinn, following violent clashes. VOA's Lisa McAdams in Moscow has the latest.

At one level, President Vladimir Putin's announcement in his annual address to the nation on April 26 that Russia may suspend its compliance with the amended 1999 Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) is nothing new, given that for the past two years, senior Russian diplomats have repeatedly threatened to withdraw from that treaty completely.

President Vladimir Putin accentuated Friday that Moscow would oppose the U.S. plan of deployment of missile defense systems in central Europe and would take measures to react.