Russia’s Putin says he found ‘many points in common’ with Obama during their first meeting

August 18th, 2009 Putin is set to open Russia's air showZHUKOVSKY, Russia — Russia's largest and most important air show is getting under way, overshadowed by a bad economy, a terrorist attack and a deadly air force crash. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is set to open the International Aviation and Space Show on Tuesday.

August 5th, 2009 Putin bares his torso in SiberiaMOSCOW — Vladimir Putin stripped to the waist for photographers while visiting a remote, rugged region of Siberia, cultivating the macho image that has helped him remain Russia's most popular leader more than a year after stepping down as president. Putin, now the prime minister, rode a horse bare-chested and swam the butterfly in an icy river while visiting the Tuva region of southern Siberia.

August 5th, 2009 Putin again bares his torso in SiberiaMOSCOW — Vladimir Putin has once again stripped to the waist for photographers while visiting a rugged region of Siberia. The Russian prime minister rode a horse bare-chested and went swimming while visiting the Tuva region.

July 20th, 2009 Russia eases restrictions on rights groups, NGOsMOSCOW — The Kremlin says President Dmitry Medvedev has signed legislation easing restrictions on human rights groups and other non-governmental organizations. The legislation is one of the few palpable signs of change in the Kremlin's treatment of independent organizations since Medvedev succeeded Vladimir Putin as president last year.

July 7th, 2009 MOSCOW - US President Barack Obama began his first meeting with Vladimir Putin Tuesday morning at the Russian prime minister's country residence outside Moscow. Obama, on his first visit to Russia since becoming president, held extensive talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Monday, resulting in a framework agreement for a new strategic arms reduction treaty.

July 7th, 2009 Putin loses nothing in Russia-US summitMOSCOW — Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev can both claim success at a summit meant to put badly strained ties on track, but a third figure also seems to have emerged a winner: Vladimir Putin. The Russian prime minister played a supporting role, limited mainly to a two-hour breakfast meeting with Obama on a suburban Moscow porch Tuesday.

July 7th, 2009 Official: Obama, Putin established 'good relation'MOSCOW — A White House official says President Barack Obama and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "formed the basis of a good relation" during a two-hour meeting at Putin's residence outside Moscow. Before heading to Russia last week, Obama told the Associated Press in an interview that Putin "has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." But after meeting the Russian leader, a senior administration official described Obama's reaction this way: "I would say he's very convinced that the prime minister is a man of today and he's got his eyes firmly on the future." The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private details of the meeting, said Obama and Putin shared concerns about terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

July 6th, 2009 Obama trusts Medvedev to follow throughMOSCOW — President Barack Obama says he trusts Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) to follow through on the agreements the two leaders have announced at their summit in Moscow. The agreements include a preliminary deal to reduce both nations' stockpiles of nuclear warheads.

July 3rd, 2009 Spokesman: Obama wrong about Russian premier PutinMOSCOW — President Barack Obama was wrong to suggest Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remains partially mired in a Cold War mindset and is sure to change his opinion when they meet next week in Moscow, Putin's spokesman said Friday. Obama said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that Putin needs to understand "that the old Cold War approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated, that it's time to move forward in a different direction." Obama said he believes Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "understands that," but Putin "has one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." Obama makes his first trip as U.S.

July 3rd, 2009 Putin responds to Obama's criticismMOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the U.S. president is wrong to suggest he remains mired in a Cold War mindset.

July 2nd, 2009 Obama says Putin lives partly in pastWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is describing Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new." He says one reason he's meeting with Putin — as well as with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (dih-MEE'-tree med-VYEH'-dyev) — during his upcoming visit to Moscow is that he wants Putin to know that "the old Cold War approaches" to relations with the United States are "outdated." Obama says Putin "still has sway" in Russia. He also says the U.S.

June 27th, 2009 Russia's Putin invites role for Shell in SakhalinMOSCOW — Russia's RIA news agency says Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has invited Royal Dutch Shell PLS to participate in developing two oil fields on Sakhalin island. The news agency quotes Putin as telling Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer that his company's participation in the Sakhalin 3 and Sakhalin 4 projects is "highly possible." In 2007, Shell was forced to sell its controlling stake in Sakhalin 2 to state-controlled Gazprom for $7.5 billion as the Kremlin stepped up pressure on foreign energy companies in an effort to consolidate control over Russia's largest hydrocarbon deposits.

June 25th, 2009 Putin criticizes prices at Moscow supermarketMOSCOW — For the second time this month, Vladimir Putin has stood up for the common man, at a carefully staged media event. Rising food prices — a key factor of high inflation — have emerged as a major source of concern for his government, as many Russians identify high food prices as the biggest issue facing them.

June 12th, 2009 Putin sends 85th birthday wishes to Bush Sr.MOSCOW — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has sent a telegram wishing former U.S. President George H.W.

June 10th, 2009 Russia might abandon nukes if other countries doMOSCOW — Russian news agencies are quoting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as saying that Russia is willing to abandon nuclear weapons if the United States and all other countries that have them do the same. State-owned RIA Novosti quotes Putin as saying that, "if those who made the atomic bomb and used it are ready to abandon it — like, I hope, other nuclear powers — of course we will welcome and facilitate this process in all ways." Interfax and RIA Novosti reported that Putin made the comments during a meeting Wednesday with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.