Putin, Schroeder stress no foreign meddling in Ukraine

Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder stressed Tuesday in Berlin that Ukraine's presidential run-off re-run scheduled for Dec. 26 should be held without foreign interference.

"The result of the Dec. 26 vote has to be respected by everybody. Nobody has the right to interfere," Schroeder told a press conference after talks with Putin in the north German city of Schleswig.

Putin emphasized good cooperation between the Russian government and the Ukrainian government led by Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. "If he (Yanukovych) wins, there are no problemsin my eyes," Putin said.

Relations between the European Union and Russia have come understrain due to alleged fraud in the Ukrainian presidential run-off between Yanukovych and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko. Russia openly supported Yanukovych while the West favoured Yushchenko.

In a separate development, Schroeder confirmed that Russia willrepay part of its debt to Germany ahead of schedule.

Germany is Russia's biggest foreign creditor with a debt totaling 21 billion euros (28 billion US dollars) and Russia plans to repay Germany between 2.0 billion euros (2.7 billion dollars) and 2.5 billion euros (3.3 billion dollars) from 2005 to 2007, government sources said.

Putin will later travel to Schroeder's home in the northern city of Hanover before winding up his two-day visit to Germany.

Source: Xinhua