President calls Putin

Victor Yushchenko has phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the President`s press-office.

      The two leaders spoke about the implementation of agreements signed at last month’s meeting of the Yushchenko-Putin Commission. They agreed to boost cooperation between the security councils and foreign ministries to work out a 2007 bilateral action plan.

      Mr. Yushchenko and Mr. Putin also discussed energy issues. They agreed to start talks aimed at formulating principles of strategic partnership in the gas sector to later sign a gas memorandum. 

      Secretariat Chief of Staff Viktor Baloha will meet with his Kremlin counterpart, Sergey Sobyanin, in late January.